Vixensong's Path
by The Broken Mask
Summary: Vixenkit is a WindClan cat, born mute and with an unclear destiny in her Clan. However, after she becomes the Medicine Cat Apprentice, her every pawstep seems to trigger new problems and disasters, each starting barely after the last was solved. It is only when she is truly alone that she realises that her path is one that no cat has ever taken. A path she has no control over.
1. Allegiances and Prologue

**WindClan**

Leader:  
Stagstar - Large, dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes, broad stripes and wide shoulders.

Deputy:  
Silverbreeze - Silver tabby she cat with green eyes and long, darker tipped fur.

Medicine Cat:  
Watersplash - Blue-grey tom cat with white speckles and yellow eyes.

Warriors:  
Icefern - White tom cat with dark blue eyes. **Apprentice:** Foxpaw  
Brindleheart - Striped calico she cat with ice blue eyes. **Apprentice:** Morningpaw  
Bluewhisker - Blue she cat with long whiskers and amber eyes.  
Rosenose - Black she cat with off blue eyes and bright pink nose. **Apprentice:** Harepaw  
Darkfall - Black tom cat with green eyes.  
Nettleclaw - Grey tom cat with dull green eyes.  
Owlfeather - Brown tom with white legs and undersides, gold speckles and gold eyes.  
Woollyfur - Cream tom cat with dense fur and yellow-green eyes. **Apprentice:** Vinepaw  
Leafjaw - Brown tom cat with a darker chin and green eyes. **Apprentice:** Aspenpaw  
Brownfoot - Pale brown tom cat with turquoise eyes and darker feet, tail face and ears. **Apprentice:** Runningpaw  
Seedtuft - Pale brown she cat with green eyes and a tuft on the end of her tail. **Apprentice:** Badgerpaw  
Mistspeckle - Pretty light grey she cat with lighter speckles and orange eyes.  
Waspflight - Yellow tabby tom with part blue part hazel eyes.  
Goldenfur - Gold she cat with amber eyes.  
Snowfang - Albino tom with pink eyes.  
Ashear - Pale grey tom cat with copper eyes.  
Heatherblaze - Lilac tortoiseshell she cat with blue-green eyes.

Apprentices:  
Harepaw - Pale brown tom cat with yellow eyes.  
Runningpaw - Golden-brown tom cat with copper coloured eyes.  
Morningpaw - Cream she cat with yellow eyes which have pink pupils and a pink nose.  
Vinepaw - Deep ginger tom cat with prominent tabby stripes and golden eyes.  
Aspenpaw - Grey tom with yellow eyes.  
Badgerpaw - Black and white patched tom with yellow-green eyes.  
Foxpaw - Red she cat with amber eyes.

Queens:  
Bramblenose - Brown tabby she cat with bright green eyes.  
Whiteblossom - White she cat with dark blue eyes. (Mother to Woollyfur's kits; Doekit, Nightkit, Vixenkit, Eaglekit and Longkit.)  
Petalpool - Tortoiseshell she cat with yellow eyes. (Pregnant with Waspflight's kits.)

Elders:  
Hailshade - Small grey tom cat with patchy fur and hazel eyes.  
Willowmist - Brown-grey she cat with pale tabby stripes and pale orange eyes.  
Littlefire - Tiny black tom cat with bright orange eyes.  
Frostwing - Pale silver she cat with one blue and one orange eye.

Kits:  
Doekit - Pale red she cat with fawn undersides and mask and orange eyes.  
Nightkit - Black tom with gold eyes.  
Vixenkit - Calico she cat with yellow eyes. Mute.  
Eaglekit - Brown tom with white speckles and dark blue eyes.  
Longkit - Cream tom with long legs and yellow-green eyes. Splitting image of Woollyfur.

 **ThunderClan**

Leader:  
Gorsestar - Pale brown tabby tom with green eyes and greying fur.

Deputy:  
Redheart - Large, deep ginger tom with amber eyes.

Medicine Cat:  
Boulderroot - Huge grey tom with hazel eyes. **Apprentice:** Swallowfang - Brown and white tom cat with ice blue eyes.

Warriors:  
Birchbranch - White tom cat with black undersides and yellow eyes.  
Oakfrost - Dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.  
Poppybriar - Mostly red tortoiseshell she cat with pale yellow eyes.

Queens:  
Squirrelpool - Grey she cat with a bushy tail and yellow eyes. Mother to Mousekit - Brown tom with yellow eyes.

 **RiverClan**

Leader:  
Reedstar - Pale brown tom cat with green eyes.

Deputy:  
Fallowwhisker - Pale brown she cat with pale green eyes.

Medicine Cat:  
Newtdapple - Brown tabby she cat with white dapples along her legs and stomach and pale yellow eyes.

Warriors:  
Otterfur - Dark brown tom cat with hazel eyes. **Apprentice:** Harrierpaw - Brown tom cat with white paws and ears and amber eyes.

 **ShadowClan**

Leader:  
Lizardstar - Bulky brown tabby tom with dark green eyes.

Deputy:  
Kinktail - Dark grey tom with dark amber eyes and a bent tail.

Medicine Cat:

Mothspots - Grey and white spotted tom with dark green eyes.

* * *

"Let all cats of WindClan gather below Tallrock for a meeting!"  
The Medicine Cat padded out his den as the Leader's voice rang clearly around the hollow, abondoning the half sorted pile of herbs in the herb store and sitting among the crowd of cats as a brown tabby Queen brought her three very excited kits to the bottom of Tallrock, where the Leader smiled down at them as she took her place among the crowd, watching on proudly.  
"Aspenkit, Badgerkit and Foxkit, you have reached the age of six moons and will now become apprentices. Aspenkit, from this day forward until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Aspenpaw. Your mentor will be Leafjaw."  
The brown tom moved forward from the crowd, his darker chin raised high in pride.  
"Leafjaw, I think you are ready for an apprentice. I hope you will pass on your hunting skills and patience to Aspenpaw." The dark brown tabby waited for the two cats to touch noses and for the next kit to come forward. "Badgerkit, from this day forward until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Badgerpaw. Your mentor will be Seedtuft."  
The Medicine Cat watched in mild suprise as the pale brown she cat joined her new Apprentice.  
"Seedtuft, you are ready for an apprentice. I hope you pass down your energy and your forethought to Badgerpaw."  
The Medicine Cat's attention turned to the last of the kits, the most troublesome of Stagstar's kits. Even the other Apprentices regarded her wearily.  
"Foxkit, from this day forward until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Foxpaw. Your mentor will be Icefern."  
The blue tom sighed silently in relief at the Leader's choice, watching the ceremony continue. Icefern may have been the oldest warrior in the Clan, but he wasn't going to join the Elders any time soon.  
"Icefern, you are ready for another apprentice. I hope you pass down your loyalty and your honesty to Foxpaw."  
"Aspenpaw! Badgerpaw! Foxpaw!" The clan chanted for the new Apprentices, but the blue tom felt hollow. When was _he_ going to get another apprentice?  
As soon as the meeting was dismissed he padded back to his den without speaking to any other cats, returning to his herb pile and resuming from where he was interrupted, separating wilted leaves from useable ones. He had just picked up the dead leaves when a yowl erupted from the nursery and pawsteps thundered towards him.  
"You should be resting, Petalpool." He mewed coolly as the moon pregnant she cat skidded in, not even turning to look at her.  
"I know, Watersplash, I know," The tortoiseshell replied quickly "but Whiteblossom's kits are coming already!"  
The tom cat's blood ran cold for just a moment, panic setting in. Swiftly picking up what useable borage and raspberry leaves he still had, he raced as fast as his aging legs could carry him to the Nursery where a white she cat was laid, agony written across her face. A cream tom ran his tail soothingly up and down her back and the brown tabby Queen had returned to the Nursery, dipping her head to Watersplash as he came in.  
"They're too early, Woollyfur!" The she cat wailed, and the tom gave her a lick across her forehead.  
"They'll be big and strong, just like you, Whiteblossom." He replied. "Watersplash is here now. Everything will be fine."  
Whiteblossom's dark blue eyes opened as the Medicine Cat put his herbs down beside her, giving him a look of pure fear.  
"Hush now, Whiteblossom. It'll be over before you know it." He mewed soothingly as he sat down. He didn't expect Woollyfur to be there, but he didn't want the tom to leave either. He needed all the help he could get. He gently pressed a paw on the queen's belly, feeling the kits move around inside. "They'll come quickly, Whiteblossom. You must do _exactly_ as I say now."  
Whiteblossom nodded before she yowled out in pain as another contraction rippled through her body.

Soon, five tiny newborn kits lay beside the belly of the exhausted white Queen. She was licking the last kitten clean and guiding him to her as Watersplash nudged the borage leaves over.  
"Here. They'll help your milk come." He gently told her.  
The she cat nodded, eating the leaves, her face twisting at the taste but swallowing them dutifully.  
Watersplash took his leave, padding back towards his den when a dark brown tabby tom bounded over.  
"Watersplash! How is Whiteblossom? How are her kits?" He asked, worry clear on his face.  
"Everything is fine, Stagstar." The Medicine Cat replied monotone. "Whiteblossom has five healthy kits, three toms and two shes. They're... an interesting bunch."  
"What do you mean by that?"  
"They're doing much better than I expected for them being so early."  
The two tom cats glanced over as Woollyfur left the Nursery, a proud spring in his step, and took some prey from the pile to the Elders.  
"Woollyfur was in there?"  
"To be there for his mate, yes."  
"I see." Stagstar touched his nose to Watersplash's shoulder. "Come on, I just got a very plump rabbit off the pile. Come join me."  
"B-But, Stagst-"  
"No buts, come on." He mewed playfully, turning to seemingly go back towards his usual spot before the blue tom could reply.  
The Medicine Cat rolled his eyes with an amused mrrow, following his Leader.  
However, Stagstar lead his friend into his den, nudging the rabbit over to him.  
"Tell me, what is concerning you, Watersplash?" He mewed calmly, his amber eyes fixed on him.  
"Nothing, Stagstar." Watersplash replied, taking a bite out the rabbit.  
"And I'm a goose."  
Watersplash couldn't help a little chuckle. "It's not about the kits, don't worry."  
"Then what is it about?"  
"Well, it's just that I don't remember hearing one of the kits crying as Whiteblossom licked her, but yet she seems perfectly healthy. I think I might be starting to go deaf."  
"Is it just that time? That you don't think you've heard something you should have, I mean." Stagstar took a moment to reply.  
"So far, yes."  
"Then perhaps you aren't yet. You have many moons left before you join StarClan."  
"Yet, you would have thought I would have had an apprentice by now. Like Boulderroot."  
"Couldn't Woollyfur take over care of the Clan?"  
"No. He didn't receive much training before..."  
An uncomfortable silence lingered in the den at the mention of Watersplash's former apprentice, guilt radiating from the Medicine Cat as his eyes lost all emotion.  
"Maybe you'll find your apprentice in Whiteblossom's litter. Or even Petalpool's." Stagstar put his tail across the Medicine Cat's shoulders, but Watersplash shrugged it off.  
"I hope so, Stagstar. I need to sort my herbs out. Please excuse me."  
"Would you like one of the Apprentices to help you?"  
"Yes please."  
With that, Watersplash left the den, hearing Stagstar sigh quietly behind him and leave to find his Deputy.  
Soon, Woollyfur padded in with his dark ginger Apprentice, Vinepaw, and his littermate, the cream coloured Morningpaw, in tow.  
"Silverbreeze said you wanted help. Could I bring these two along? Just for a tracking exercise." Woollyfur asked as the two Apprentices watched him from behind the warrior, eyes wide as if they feared his response.  
"Has Brindleheart agreed?"  
"Yes."  
"Come on then." Watersplash picked up some of the wilted leaves for the Apprentices to get the scent of once they were out into the territory.  
"Take the leaves off the plants by their stalk. Don't damage the rest of the plant." Woollyfur instructed the two Apprentices before they ran off.  
"And don't take too much!" Watersplash added, falling into step beside Woollyfur as they walked after the siblings.  
"Watersplash, why were our kits so early? I thought she wasn't due for another half moon."  
"Possibly because her litter was so big. I've known litters of four every now and then, but, never five."  
"But, they're so tiny!"  
"They're still very young, Woollyfur. Besides, Whiteblossom has me, she has you, she has Petalpool and she has Bramblenose. If Bramblenose can raise you, Owlfeather and Foxpaw, she can handle anything."  
Woollyfur went silent, but Watersplash could see that he was still concerned, even in the dark leaf bare evening. He stopped and sat down, looking up at the half moon and silverpelt.  
"Will StarClan watch over them? And Whiteblossom?" Woollyfur quietly asked, fearful.  
"StarClan watches over all of us, Woollyfur," Watersplash replied, sitting down beside his former apprentice. "Including you."  
The two toms rested in companionable silence for a long time, only broken by the return of the Apprentices and their return to camp, saying nothing more even when they parted for the night.

"Watersplash? May I speak to you?"  
The Medicine Cat swallowed the burnet leaf he was chewing and looked over to the entrance, where Bramblenose was stood.  
"As long as it doesn't take too long. I need to leave for Moonpool soon." He replied, a little more harshly than intended.  
"Apologies." Bramblenose was immune to Watersplash's snappiness. "I'm just worried about one of Whiteblossom's kits."  
"Which one?"  
"Vixenkit."  
"What about her?"  
"None of us have heard anything from her. The rest are rather vocal, but, she's quiet. Silent even. And they're a moon old."  
"I'll have a quick look before I leave." Watersplash replied, hiding his panic in eating the last of his travelling herbs before going to the Nursery under the half moon.  
"Hello Watersplash. Have you come to see Vixenkit?" Whiteblossom spoke calmly and seemed friendly to him, but her faltering expression told him otherwise.  
"I have, Whiteblossom. I doubt it's anything to worry about." Watersplash replied, crouching down beside her. The five kits looked at him curiously as he came down to their level. "Hello kits, don't mind me here."  
The kits didn't respond, continuing to stare at him.  
"You can all play before you go to sleep." Whiteblossom told them, making the kits squeal in delight and start to tumble with each other, under the watchful eyes of the Queens and the Medicine Cat. Even when they got rough, none of them intervened.  
Vixenkit was tackled by two of her brothers, Eaglekit and Longkit, but she didn't squeak when she hit the dirt nor did she hiss when she retaliated. When Whiteblossom began to groom her kits to get the dirt out their fur before they went to sleep, they all squeaked and wailed in protest, except Vixenkit. Watersplash took her, grooming her belly and neck while Whiteblossom took Nightkit and Doekit, watching her mouth open in protest but no noise come out. Whiteblossom watched as he put her with the rest of her siblings.  
"Any ideas, Watersplash?" The white Queen asked.  
The Medicine Cat took a breath in and out before he replied.  
"Vixenkit is mute."


	2. Chapter One

"Whiteblossom! Whiteblossom! Can we go see Harestep and Runningcloud?" The red she kit bounced excitedly on her paws in the midst of the rest of her litter as the white Queen wearily stirred from her sleep.  
"As soon as Silverbreeze lets them off their vigil, yes." She mewed tiredly. "But don't pester them too long. They need to sleep too. And don't pester the other Warriors either, just come straight back and come back to sleep."  
"We will!" Nearly all of the group chorused before they all sat patiently in the Nursery entrance, most of them chattering quietly and excitedly. All except Vixenkit. She ignored the chatter, scenting the Deputy as she approached the two new Warriors, her littermates' gazes following hers as she watched the two toms dip their heads to the silver tabby and begin to pad to the Warriors' Den.  
"Harestep!" Eaglekit and Longkit squealed excitedly as they lead the group over.  
"Runningcloud!" Nightkit added, his eyes glittering brightly as the two toms looked over to the litter, somewhere between suprised and exhausted.  
"Hello kits. What are you doing up this early?" The young golden brown tom greeted them with a bright smile, while the pale brown tom seemed like he just wanted to swat them away.  
"We came to see you, Runningcloud!" Doekit squealed, speaking so fast she could burst.  
Vixenkit, however, was staring at Harestep as he tried to escape to the den. Knowing he couldn't slink away while she was watching him, he sighed and sat next to Runningcloud.  
"What's it like being a Warrior?" Longkit asked the two toms.  
"And an Apprentice!" Eaglekit added, his dark blue eyes wide in admiration.  
"It's a lot of fun, hunting prey on the moor." Runningcloud dropped into a crouch, stalking towards the kits, who squealed in delight as they bounded away.  
"And you get to fight for WindClan territory, keeping it out of greedy ThunderClan paws!" Harestep added, only to be pushed over by the kits suddenly attacking him playfully, laughing loudly. Even the pale brown tom laughed too.  
"Kits! Let them rest!" Silverbreeze called as she bounded over, picking each one off, leaving Vixenkit until last, regarding her strangely for a moment before she took the kits back to the Nursery.  
While most of the kits fell asleep when they all curled up beside the peaceful Whiteblossom, Vixenkit didn't. The look that the Deputy had given her put her slightly on edge but perplexed her at the same time.  
Vixenkit was just closing her eyes and burying her nose under her tail to sleep when Whiteblossom herself woke up, very slowly and softly moving as not to wake the other kits.  
"Did I hear Silverbreeze bring you all back?" She asked.  
Vixenkit just nodded, not even trying to speak. Now the rest of her siblings were asleep, she didn't need to try.  
"You weren't out there too long, were you?" She continued.  
Vixenkit shook her head grumpily.  
"You can talk to them later, Vixenkit." The Queen licked her kit's head as she spoke, nudging her back down as she tried to sit up. "It's still early. Sleep."  
Vixenkit curled up again at her mother's command, burying herself among the warmth of the rest of the kits and letting herself fall asleep again.

Vixenkit blinked her eyes open, stretching out and yawning and feeling the ground beneath her paws. The grassy ground.  
Confused, she sat up, looking around, finding herself totally alone and in a strange area. Her head flicked around as her body curled up in a defensive ball, her fur standing on end. Moonlight lit the area around her which seemed to be in newleaf, but at night time. Nothing stirred, except a gentle breeze that tumbled a few leaves along with it.  
But even this was enough to scare the twitchy Kit, who soon dived into the undergrowth and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her through the unfamiliar ground, looking for somewhere - anywhere - to hide. Seeing a wall of mist, she choose to try there, knowing it would hide her scent until she could calm down.  
However, she was barely a whisker away from it when she was suddenly grabbed by the scruff and yanked back.  
When her eyes closed, it was the end of her dream.

"Vixenkit! Wake up! The Elders agreed to tell us stories!"  
Vixenkit jolted awake as Nightkit roughly prodded her side, to which she swatted a paw at his face and sat up, yawning.  
It was nearly sunhigh now and her scruff still felt weird. She turned her head to lick it, trying to soothe it.  
"Come on!" Longkit whinned, pushing his sister along towards the Nursery entrance until she got onto her own paws, trailing behind the rest of the litter as they burst into the Elders' Den, the four residents looking up at them from the quiet conversation they had been having before.  
While most of the Elders huffed, complaining quietly about Kits these days, a small black tom with orange eyes smiled kindly at them.  
"Have you come for your stories?" He asked, barely finishing his question before he was drowned out by the cheers of the kits.  
"I don't know why you agreed to this, Littlefire." The other tom in the den grumbled, shuffling angrily in his nest.  
"Queens need a break too, Hailshade." The pale silver she cat told him as she and the other Elder shuffled over, resting either side of Littlefire.  
"I suppose you'll never understand that." The third elder teased gently, only earning more grumbling from Hailshade as he turned his back to them all.  
"So, what do you want us to tell you about?" Littlefire asked. Of all the requests, Doekit's request was loudest of all.  
"Why do we have to be so old to be Apprentices?" She asked, the other kits quickly agreeing with her.  
"Because the Warrior Code says so." Willowmist replied, having settled on the left side of Littlefire, her pale eyes glittering in amusement.  
"But _why_?"  
"Because of a WindClan queen." Frostwing replied, settling her head on her near white paws. "Do you want to hear it?"  
"Yes please!"  
Frostwing motioned for the Kits to settle down before she started. Vixenkit was closest to her and watched her intently as she spoke.  
"Many moons ago, there was a queen named Daisytail. She had one kit, a tom named Specklepaw. Though he was barely a moon older than you, he was already an apprentice. As she watched him practice battle moves with a much older apprentice, she knew that he couldn't even win against the older Apprentice, let alone a bloodthirsty ShadowClan warrior."  
"I could take on any warrior!" Eaglekit interrupted, showing off what he called his "battle face", baring his fangs and curling up his lip. The other Kits joined in, even Vixenkit, though she promptly stopped when she heard the Elders chuckle.  
"Shall we test that? Vinepaw is supposed to be changing our bedding later. I'm sure he'd like to fight you." Hailshade called from the back of the den.  
"N-No, I'm sure he has more important things to do."  
"How about Stagstar? Or Nettleclaw? Or Watersplash?"  
"Watersplash is so old he couldn't defend himself against a fly." Longkit replied.  
"Watersplash is younger than Stagstar, believe it or not. He was a warrior when Watersplash was Water _kit_." Willowmist put in.  
"Yet, you would have thought they were brothers." Frostwing murmured, watching the two toms talk in the middle of camp.  
"Anyway," Littlefire took back the attention. "Daisytail was so worried about her kit going into battle, she spoke to her friend, Hawkfoot..."  
Vixenkit stopped listening to the story, trying to pick out bits of the conversation between the two toms in camp.  
"... I don't think she can, Stagstar." Watersplash was saying in the near empty hollow. "Yes, she can listen to commands and such, but her training will be slow. Slower than her siblings'."  
"That will be the same whatever route she goes down, Watersplash." Stagstar replied, the tension in his voice evident. "I know you want an apprentice, but this might not be her destiny. Just like it wasn't Woollyfur's."  
Watersplash visibly bristled at the mention of her father's name.  
"And what if she _wants_ to be a Medicine Cat?" He asked coarsely.  
"If she wants to, then yes. But we aren't forcing her path just because she can't speak."  
The impending arguement was cut off by Silverbreeze and Whiteblossom joining the conversation.  
"How about another story where another WindClan cat added a rule to the code?" Littlefire's voice cut through Vixenkit's thoughts like a claw through fur.  
"Which code, Littlefire?" Doekit asked.  
"That a cat cannot be made Deputy without mentoring at least one Apprentice. In the reign of Featherstar, there was a deputy named Pebblefur..."

The kits had to leave the Elders' Den when Vinepaw came to change their bedding and check for ticks, so the kits decided to ambush Whiteblossom as she padded back to the Nursery, creating pile of laughing cats.  
"You're all so good at stalking. Have you been annoying the Warriors or the Apprentices?" Whiteblossom laughed, untangling herself and guiding her kits inside the Nursery again.  
"No, but Hailshade threatened to make me fight Vinepaw!" Eaglekit whinned.  
"Only because you said you could take on any Warrior." Longkit rolled his eyes dramatically, earning him a playful shove from Eaglekit.  
Nightkit, however, fell into step by Vixenkit.  
"Are you okay, Vixenkit? You didn't seem to be listening." He quietly asked so none of the others could hear.  
Vixenkit nodded her reply, looking over to Petalpool's two kits as they came over to the litter.  
"You got to see the Elders!" The tortoiseshell she kit mewed enviously.  
"What stories did they tell you?" The yellow tabby she kit asked.  
"Cherrykit! Yellowkit!" Petalpool called her kits back as Bramblenose padded in with some rabbits for them.  
Vixenkit noticed Petalpool encouraging her kits to eat the prey like she and her siblings did. When they seemed weary, she nudged a rabbit over, taking a happy bite out of it to try and coax them into joining in.  
Yellowkit was the first to take a bite, chewing the small bite she had taken dramatically but swallowing it before taking another. Cherrykit followed, sharing the rabbit with her sister and Vixenkit.  
As the sun began to set, Vixenkit watched the camp from where she was laid by Whiteblossom, particularly watching the near Medicine Cat Den, Watersplash and Woollyfur returning with their jaws full of herbs. However, her ears rung with the conversation between Stagstar and the Medicine Cat.  
 _I'll show them! I'll be the best warrior WindClan has ever known!_


	3. Chapter Two

It may have been the middle of the night, but the camp wasn't silent. In the middle, five kits were wide awake, though their eyelids were starting to droop, and chatting excitedly in a circle of their own, but stayed as quiet as they could. Mostly because they had been already told off by Woollyfur, who was the guard for the camp that night, for making too much noise.  
"I can't wait to be an Apprentice!" Longkit mewed, fidgeting in place, purring brightly.  
"Stagstar won't make you an Apprentice if you've got ants in your pelt." Doekit scoffed in her bossy way.  
"He won't make you an Apprentice if you keep ordering everyone around." Eaglekit challenged from her other side, making Doekit smirk evilly and playfully.  
"I'll show you! I'd easily defeat you in a fight!"  
With that, Doekit pounced at Eaglekit, sending the both tumbling around in a play fight. The other kits, however, ignored them totally, oblivious to the hissing going on around them.  
"Who do you think our Mentors will be?" Nightkit asked calmly.  
"Do you think Whiteblossom or Woollyfur could mentor us?" Longkit pondered, but nodded when Vixenkit shook her head. "You're right, kin doesn't usually mentor kin."  
"What about Rosenose? She's quite nice. Brownfoot too."  
"No, I like Owlfeather. He is very cheery and optimistic." Longkit murmured, his voice barely more than a whisper. "But, I like Snowfang too. He's quiet."  
Vixenkit let them chatter. She hoped for one of the senior warriors as a mentor, like Bluewhisker, or a keen one like Mistspeckle. She also hoped for Bramblenose, but she knew the tabby would stay in the nursery while Petalpool still had her kits.  
"I want Nettleclaw!" Eaglekit interrupted, being pinned on his front by Doekit right in front of his other siblings. "He's the best fighter in the whole Clan!"  
"No, it's Darkfall!" Doekit protested, starting up another arguement between the two kits. Vixenkit silently rolled her eyes. She didn't understand how either of them still had energy at this time.  
"When you've finished tearing each other's whiskers out, the sun will be up soon." Nightkit mewed, physically pushing them apart.  
"Yes. We're all tired. We don't want to be tired for the ceremony tomorrow." Longkit added. Vixenkit added in a fake yawn for effect, which seemed to work as Doekit and Eaglekit admitted defeat, padding back to the Nursery and settling in their nests as quietly as they could as not to wake the other cats.  
However, Vixenkit was just falling asleep as Longkit shuffled around. She glared at him, but it did nothing as he was facing away from her. She was just about to doze off again when she heard pawsteps in camp, her urge to spring up gone as she realised it was just Woollyfur. She curled back up as she watched him drop whatever he had in his jaws in front of Watersplash's Den and return to his place. Tiredness finally took over her just as she wanted to investigate, her eyes closing as she fell asleep.

It didn't seem long until Vixenkit was awoken again, but this time the disturbance was much larger, out in camp, right outside Watersplash's Den.  
All the cats on the dawn patrol were there, Nettleclaw was stood to one side, the siblings Heatherblaze and Ashear behind him and Goldenfur was stood alongside a very sleepy looking Watersplash. She watched his eyes pop open as he examined what Woollyfur had left, before saying something to Nettleclaw, who nodded to Heatherblaze and she ran off towards Stagstar's Den.  
"Why all the noise? It's only dawn." Petalpool drowsily mewed as the other cats in the Nursery began to stir too.  
Vixenkit, however, continued to watch outside as Heatherblaze brought Stagstar to Watersplash and Nettleclaw took his patrol out. The two had a brief conversation before they went to the Leader's Den.  
Knowing no better, Cherrykit and Yellowkit left the Nursery and tried to sneakily go over to examine it, the other Kits following.  
"What is it?" Cherrykit asked, pawing it curiously.  
"It's fur." Yellowkit replied, sniffing the pale fur. "But not cat fur."  
"It's fox fur." Foxpaw mewed, matter of fact. "I heard Watersplash say it was an Omen from StarClan before he left with Stagstar. I don't think little kits should be touching it."  
Cherrykit and Yellowkit slunk away, but Nightkit gave both of them comforting looks.  
"Did he say what it could mean?" Eaglekit asked.  
"He didn't." Foxpaw shrugged. "But, knowing them, it won't be long until we find out."  
"Trust something exciting to happen today." Longkit grumbled. "We get made Apprentices today!"  
"And Aspenpaw, Badgerpaw and I get made Warriors today too." Foxpaw visibly bristled at Longkit's complaining, stalking off with a hiss of contempt towards the Kits to join her brothers.  
"Ignore Foxpaw. She's just a pain in the tail. Let's go back to the Nursery." Nightkit mewed to the two younger kits as he began to leave. Still tired, Vixenkit followed, feeling barely able to put one paw in front of the other.  
She had barely put one paw into her nest when Stagstar slunk his way in.  
"Vixenkit, Whiteblossom, may I speak to you in my Den?" He mewed, acting as if he was just inviting them for a friendly chat. Vixenkit's blood was ice cold as she followed the Leader and the Queen into the den, where the Medicine Cat was sat waiting, a strange look in his eyes.  
"Watersplash? What is the matter?" Whiteblossom recoiled for a moment, but Stagstar gave her and her kit a warm look, saying nothing but motioning for them to sit down.  
"I believe that fox fur that was found outside my den this morning was an Omen from StarClan." Watersplash started.  
"We think StarClan wants you to be the next Medicine Cat of WindClan, Vixenkit." Stagstar finished.  
Vixenkit looked horrified, motioning frantically to Woollyfur who was stood with other cats being assigned to hunting patrols by Silverbreeze.  
"Woollyfur? What about him?" Stagstar mewed questioningly.  
"Don't worry about him. You won't be replacing him." Watersplash told her, but Vixenkit saw the alarm in his eyes. Like his world was about to fall apart.  
Growing angry because they wouldn't take her seriously, Vixenkit motioned to the ground where Woollyfur had been sat when he was on guard and then to the "Omen". She wished she could scream her lungs out and tell them the truth. She didn't want to be a Medicine Cat!  
"Vixenkit, Woollyfur will still love you the same if you became a Medicine Cat." Whiteblossom's voice was harsh, almost angry, and it scared the kit into submission. She had never heard the queen like that before. In all the trouble that her siblings had gotten into, she never once got angry or even _started_ to loose her patience.  
"Will you become Watersplash's apprentice?"  
Stagstar's voice drowned out all the other noise around her and all she could see were the three expectant faces of the three cats in the Den around her. Her heart heavy, she knew there was no way to get out of this. She gave one single nod.  
Whiteblossom burst into proud purrs, ushering her out the Leader's Den to leave the two toms in peace and take her back to the Nursery, where they were quickly met by her littermates.  
"What did Stagstar say?" Bramblenose asked, smiling brightly when she saw Whiteblossom's face.  
"That Vixenkit is going to become a Medicine Cat." Whiteblossom replied brightly, bur her siblings fell silent.  
"Is that what the Omen was about?" Petalpool asked, both Whiteblossom and Vixenkit nodding their replies.  
"Wow! StarClan chose you?" Doekit's eyes sparkled as the kits mobbed her, asking her all kinds of questions. But Vixenkit didn't want to answer any of them.

"Let all cats of WindClan gather below Tallrock for a Clan meeting!"  
Vixenkit padded out with her siblings, half hiding behind them from the rest of the Clan. To her relief, Aspenpaw, Badgerpaw and Foxpaw were also near the front of the crowd with their Mentors, looking as excited as the kits.  
"Today, the life of WindClan progresses strongly with the creation of new Warriors and new Apprentices. Step forward, Aspenpaw, Badgerpaw and Foxpaw."  
The three Apprentices sat below Tallrock as the Leader continued.  
"I, Stagstar of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these Apprentices. They have trained well to understand your noble code and I commend them to you as Warriors in their turns. Do you all promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I do." The three cats mewed together.  
"Then I give you your Warrior names. Aspenpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Aspenface. StarClan honours your Determination and Loyalty. Badgerpaw, from this day forward you shall be known as Badgerpatch. StarClan honours your forethought and Strength. Foxpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Foxstrike. StarClan honours your Skill in Battle and your Enthusiasm. We welcome you all now as Warriors of WindClan."  
"Aspenface! Badgerpatch! Foxstrike!" The Clan chanted as each cat licked Stagstar's shoulder and he placed his muzzle on their head. As happy as she was for them, the meeting dragged on. As the new Warriors joined the crowd, Whiteblossom nudged her five kits forward, looking on proudly, as did Woollyfur who was sat beside her. Vixenkit sat on one end of the line, knowing full well what was coming.  
"You have all reached six moons old and it is time for you to become Apprentices. Doekit, from this day on, until you earn your Warrior name, you will been known as Doepaw. Your mentor will be Nettleclaw."  
The grey tom cat moved froward from the crowd, his green eyes proud and determined. Doekit's eyes glittered in glee.  
"Nettleclaw, you are ready for another apprentice. I hope you pass down your Skill in Battle and Bravery to Doepaw."  
The two cats touched noses and moved back as Nightkit came forward next.  
"Nightkit, from this day on, until you earn your Warrior name, you will been known as Nightpaw. Your mentor will be Goldenfur."  
The golden she cat came forward excitedly.  
"Goldenfur, you are ready for your first apprentice. I hope you pass down your Energy and Intelligence to Nightpaw."  
The Mentor and Apprentice touched noses, each clearly as excited as the other. The attention soon turned to Eaglekit.  
"Eaglekit, from this day on, until you earn your Warrior name, you will been known as Eaglepaw. Your mentor will be Mistspeckle."  
The grey she cat strode calmly out, her head held high.  
"Mistspeckle, you are ready for an apprentice. I hope you pass down your Patience and Courage to Eaglepaw."  
Mistspeckle took everything in her stride as she touched noses with Eaglepaw, but her gaze was kind which made Eaglepaw happy. Longkit padded forward only when the new Apprentice and Mentor were away.  
"Longkit, from this day on, until you earn your Warrior name, you will been known as Longpaw. Your mentor will be Brownfoot."  
The strangely marked brown tom padded forward, evidently suprised.  
"Brownfoot, you are ready for an apprentice. I hope you pass down your Independence and Initiative to Longkit."  
Brownfoot pushed the feelings back as he touched noses with Longpaw.  
Stagstar nodded to Watersplash, who sat before the crowd.  
"Cats of WindClan, StarClan has shown me that it is time for me to take an Apprentice. Your next Medicine Cat will be Vixenkit." He mewed.  
"Vixenkit, do you accept the position of Medicine Cat Apprentice?" Stagstar asked.  
Even though everything told her not to, Vixenkit nodded.  
"Then until you earn your Medicine Cat name, you will be known as Vixenpaw." Stagstar stated.  
"Then tonight you will travel to Moonpool to be accepted before StarClan." Watersplash said.  
"The best wishes of WindClan go with you." Stagstar mewed.  
"Doepaw! Nightpaw! Eaglepaw! Longpaw! Vixenpaw!" The Clan chanted as Vixenpaw and Watersplash touched noses. She saw the joy and hope in the Medicine Cat's eyes. She felt ashamed to be as upset as she was.  
 _Almost._


	4. Chapter Three

Vixenpaw watched her siblings excitedly mob their new mentors and quickly be taken out into the territory by them as a happy group.  
"You'll get to see the territory soon, Vixenpaw." Watersplash mewed from behind her. "We have plenty of time before we need to leave. You can join me on my rounds to see the Elders and the Nursery."  
Vixenpaw perked up at the thought of going to the Nursery as she followed him into the herb store, her nose being overwhelmed by all the smells of all the different herbs that a Medicine Cat could use.  
 _How in StarClan am i going to remember all these?_  
She jumped as she realised that she had zoned out, running to catch up to her mentor who had taken a bundle of leaves and some cobwebs with him and was going towards the Elders' Den.  
"Good morning. How are your joints, Hailshade?" Watersplash asked the grumpy Elder as he put his herbs down.  
"Same as ever." He grumbled, stretching out his front legs. To her horror, she realised how swollen his joints were.  
"Daisy and marigold leaves should help." Watersplash told Vixenpaw, picking up a section of the leaves he had brought and taking her over to Hailshade. "Watch me first."  
The Medicine Cat took two of the leaves, chewing them into a fine paste and applying it to one of the Elder's joints before covering it in cobwebs to hold it in place. The blue tom nodded to the calico to indicate that it was her turn. She took the other two leaves, chewing them briefly before putting a little bit on the joint. The paste was far too lumpy.  
"Chew it more." Watersplash gently encouraged.  
Vixenpaw did as she was told, chewing it more and trying it again. Still not fine enough.  
"More Vixenpaw."  
She could tell that he was trying to be kind, but both of the toms were getting frustrated. She chewed and chewed and chewed before putting it all onto the joint. Too fine.  
"That will do." Watersplash put the cobwebs on for her, moving swiftly onto the other Elders, who complained of cracked paw pads and joint pains.  
The visit to the Nursery was quick, as now it was just Bramblenose, Petalpool and her kits inside. It felt much more empty now that she had gone. Cherrykit and Yellowkit were as bright as ever, asking Vixenpaw all kinds of questions as Watersplash quietly talked to the two Queens. Vixenpaw felt sad when she had to leave. She adored Cherrykit and Yellowkit.

"Vixenpaw? Where are you? We need to go soon!" Watersplash called to her as Vixenpaw padded into the Den with two small rabbits hanging from her jaws. Watersplash blinked at her as she dropped the larger one by his paws. "Good job I haven't eaten my herbs yet."  
The two cats sat down to eat in a slightly awkward silence. Watersplash glanced over at her.  
"You'll feel better soon. The first day of my apprenticeship didn't go well either." He mewed as she finished her rabbit. "Meeting the other Medicine Cats will cheer you up."  
Vixenpaw looked curiously at him as he nudged a bunch of leaves to her and instructed her to eat them.  
"I think you will like them. But remember that tonight is your ceremony too." The Medicine Cat quickly swallowed his herbs and padded out of camp, Vixenpaw still chewing her last as she walked beside him.  
Vixenpaw looked around in amazement over the area around her. It was huge! It seemed to stretch as far as her eyes could see. The lake sparkled in the distance, each of the stars in silverpelt reflected across it and the half moon standing out in the middle like the Island. The moor stretched in every other direction as far as her eyes could see, the pine forests just a thin line on the horizon. She glanced at her mentor, her wide eyes of amazement soon turning to confusion as he was just sat there, looking over to RiverClan territory, waiting for someone. She scratched the ground to get his attention.  
"Hmm?" Watersplash looked over at her, a glazed look in his eyes. "Oh, I forgot to mention, I usually wait for Newtdapple here. She is RiverClan's Medicine Cat."  
Vixenpaw pointed with her muzzle along the other side of the lake, which seemed to be the shorter route.  
"We have been close friends for many moons now. Since we were Apprentices." He answered.  
Vixenpaw sat beside him, her yellow eyes searching the area before them for any signs of movement. She found none.  
"I suppose i ought to tell you about the others while we wait." The blue tom suddenly mewed, his apprentice suddenly looking over in interest. "The other three Medicine Cats are tom cats. ShadowClan's Medicine Cat is Mothspots. He is kind, but he can be a bit... _prickly_. ThunderClan has two Medicine Cats, Boulderroot and his apprentice, Swallowfang. Boulderroot is somewhat reserved, but he has a good sense of humour. Swallowfang is still fairly inexperienced, he only gained his full name about six moons ago, but he is keen and he is bright."  
"Are you talking to yourself, Watersplash?" A female voice rang out with a note of amusement as a brown tabby she cat padded up, her white dapples reflecting in the moon light.  
"No Newtdapple." Watersplash's voice took on the same teasing note. "I was telling my _apprentice_ about the other Medicine Cats."  
"You finally got yourself an apprentice?"  
"Of course. Newtdapple, this is Vixenpaw. She became my apprentice this morning."  
"Nice to meet you, Vixenpaw." Newtdapple dipped her head with a kind smile. Vixenpaw could only dip her head back in greeting.  
"I'm sure she says the same." Watersplash spoke for the apprentice.  
"Is she...?"  
"StarClan works in mysterious ways." Watersplash answered her unfinished question with a shrug. "However, I fear we are running late."  
"Apologies. Otterfur got a thorn in his paw and I couldn't leave until I got it out." Newtdapple looked embrassed, falling into place on the other side of the tom to Vixenpaw as they began to go to Moonpool. She saw what he meant when he said they were close as they chatted away about pretty much everything. But she feared that the other Medicine Cats wouldn't be as accepting of her than Newtdapple was.  
As the three cats walked alongside the small river that lead to Moonpool, they found three other tom cats waiting outside the hollow, sat talking to each other, though only one was smiling, the brown and white tom cat that Vixenpaw quickly guessed was Swallowfang. They all looked over as Newtdapple called out a greeting.  
"Do my eyes deceive me, Watersplash? Have you taken an apprentice?" The large grey tom mrrowed teasingly. He was sat closest to Swallowfang.  
"Yes, I have. Mothspots, Boulderroot, Swallowfang, this is Vixenpaw." Watersplash introduced his apprentice again, as she dipped her head in greeting to the cats.  
"Welcome, Vixenpaw." The grey and white-patched tom mewed, seemingly uninterested.  
"Hello Vixenpaw." Swallowfang moved to her side. "I'm Swallowfang, that's my mentor Boulderroot and Mothspots." He pointed with his muzzle to the large grey tom and grey and white tom in turn.  
Awkwardly, Vixenpaw dipped her head in greeting again.  
"Perhaps I ought to mention that she is the one who was born mute." Watersplash added hesitantly, trying to clear the awkwardness. While the ThunderClan cats recoiled in shock, Mothspots' fur prickled.  
"Have you got bees in your brain?" He hissed lowly. "You want to make a mute cat a Medicine Cat?"  
" _StarClan_ does." Watersplash countered coolly. "They sent me an Omen."  
Vixenpaw's tail lashed discretely as he mentioned the "Omen". Now more than ever and wished that she could talk, that she could yowl out the truth before anything went any further. Being a Medicine Cat wasn't for her.  
"Whatever." Mothspots stalked towards Moonpool, the other cats beginning to follow him. Swallowfang rolled his eyes at Mothspots before falling into place in front Vixenpaw down the paw-dimpled path down to the faintly glimmering Moonpool. A gap in the wall above let water follow into the moonlit pool, but Vixenpaw didn't hear it pouring in.  
The other Medicine Cats sat on the beach before the pool, looking at her as she stood in the entrance to the hollow.  
"Vixenpaw," Watersplash started her ceremony before she was quite ready. "Are you ready to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a Medicine Cat?"  
Vixenpaw nodded, not wanting to face the pressure of all the cats staring at her again. She didn't want to disappoint anyone.  
"Then come forward." Watersplash mewed, and Vixenpaw went to the edge of the pool, standing between her mentor and Swallowfang. "Cats of StarClan, I present you with this apprentice. Grant her your wisdom and insight so that she may understand your ways and heal her Clan in accordance with your will."  
The blue tom nodded to his apprentice and Vixenpaw touched her nose to the pool, laying down beside it, with the other Medicine Cats and letting sleep overtake her.

When Vixenpaw opened her eyes, she found herself on familiar grassy ground, in New Leaf and in night time. Her scruff began to itch again, like it had when she was a kit, and she licked it, trying to soothe it.  
 _Am I in StarClan now? Was that dream from StarClan too?_  
"Well met, Vixenpaw."  
The she cat jumped, broken from her thoughts by a she cat with stars in her fur. A brown and tan coloured she cat with dark blue eyes. The same dark blue eyes that Whiteblossom and Eaglepaw had.  
"Apologies, I did not mean to frighten you." The she cat spoke rhythmically and soothingly and it calmed the apprentice down. "I am Ryeflower. I was Watersplash's mentor."  
Vixenpaw smiled as the starry cat touched her nose to her forehead, almost like a mother.  
"I know you are not entirely happy, Vixenpaw." She mewed, and Vixenpaw looked away, guilty. "Please, do not fear where your path may lead. Have heart knowing that I, the other Medicine Cats and StarClan will support you."  
Vixenpaw looked back at Ryeflower, only to see her begin to turn away and head into the trees. She ran after the StarClan cat, getting her to stop.  
"Oh Vixenpaw, I'd like to stay longer, I really would. But it is time for you to return to the waking world." She purred. "I will see you again soon, I promise."  
Regretfully, Vixenpaw let her leave and the area around her fade to black as her dream ended.

The calico cat awoke from her dream on the Moonpool shore, sitting up as her eyes readjusted to the dim light of the hollow. When she looked around, she saw that she was the first one to wake up. Her mind raced with Ryeflower's words.  
 _My path? What is going to happen to me?_  
She glanced down as Swallowfang began to stir beside her, his ice blue eyes blinking open and immediately meeting her yellow ones.  
"How was it?" He asked her, whispering so that he wouldn't disturb the other cats.  
Vixenpaw nodded with a grin, but her stomach knotted.


	5. Chapter Four

"... Leafjaw, Seedtuft, Icefern, Aspenface, Badgerpatch, Foxstrike, Nettleclaw, Doepaw, Goldenfur, Nightpaw, Mistspeckle, Eaglepaw, Brownfoot, Longpaw, Whiteblossom and Woollyfur." Stagstar finished before dismissing the gathered cats.  
The Warrior Apprentices jumped around and chattered in glee.  
"Our first gathering!" Eaglepaw and Longpaw squealed as their mentors chuckled.  
"It certainly is exciting. You'll be announced as Apprentices in front of the other Clans." Mistspeckle told them.  
"But don't get too used to it." Nettleclaw added. "Just because you're an apprentice doesn't mean you'll go every time. Or when you're a warrior either, I haven't been in moons before now."  
"Go on." Watersplash nudged Vixenpaw towards her siblings. "Come back when they go to train, we're going to find some herbs before the supplies dry up."  
Vixenpaw nodded to her mentor, running over to her littermates.  
"Vixenpaw!" Nightpaw was the one who spotted her first, but it didn't take long for all of them to surround her and bombard her with questions.  
"How is your training going?" Doepaw asked, and Vixenpaw folded her ears back. She didn't feel like she had learnt much in her half moon and Watersplash seemed to get annoyed with her very often, unusual for such a patient cat.  
"Aren't you going to the gathering?" Nightpaw quickly changed the subject, "I didn't hear Stagstar say your name, or Watersplash's."  
"Medicine Cats usually go every time." Brownfoot told them as Vixenpaw smirked, creating a chorus of protest. "Medicine Cats are a large part of the Clans, even if they do stand apart."  
Brownfoot gave her a kind look as he and the other warriors herded their apprentices away to train, which Vixenpaw returned with a smile before she returned to her mentor, who she found talking to Darkfall and Bluewhisker, all with serious faces. When the mates left, Watersplash sighed sympathetically, to which Vixenpaw tilted her head in confusion.  
"Bluewhisker is pregnant again." Watersplash mewed.  
Vixenpaw looked between the mates, who were now with Silverbreeze, and the Medicine Cat.  
 _Why was their conversation so joyless?_  
"They had a kit before." Watersplash answered her unspoken question. "Poor thing was still born. She lost a litter before that too. But those were many moons ago, when they were young."  
Vixenpaw took from the look on his face that he thought that they'd be heartbroken again.  
"Love is a very dangerous thing." He mumbled, before snapping out of his daze. "Anyway, come sort the herb pile out with me."  
The Medicine Cats sat side by side in the herb store, the tom cat bringing each pile of herbs to them and explaining what it was used for before getting the she cat to separate the useable ones from the unusable. However, between all the different herbs and how quickly Watersplash spoke, Vixenpaw felt like her head could explode from all the information. She was soon distracted by some of the seeds that were in store, two piles of seemingly identical black seeds. Trying to be useful, she stood up and began to push one pile to the other, but she was quickly stopped by Watersplash who reseparated them before saying anything.  
"What in StarClan were you thinking, Vixenpaw? Mixing up poppy seeds and foxglove seeds could kill a cat!" He exclaimed, fluffing up just a little before he realised he had startled her.  
Vixenpaw looked at one pile of seeds and then the other before looking back at him, looking confused.  
"Poppy seeds are used to ease pain and shock, sending a cat to sleep. Never give them to nursing queens." Watersplash explained, indicating to the far larger pile of seeds closest to him, before turning to the smaller pile that Vixenpaw had tried to move. "Foxglove seeds, however, treat hearts, helping them become regular again, but they can also make them worse. We don't use them very often."  
Vixenpaw just nodded in response as he gave her the unusable herbs.  
"Take these to the dirtplace then come back. We need to find some more borage and parsley."  
She saw a certain darkness in his eyes as he said parsley, but she moved quickly on, itching to leave camp.

Vixenpaw stood beside Watersplash as the last of the cats going to the gathering joined the group who were waiting by the entrance. Once Icefern joined them from a last minute hunting patrol, Stagstar began to lead the group away.  
Just ahead of the Medicine Cats, the Clan's newest Apprentices bounced around each other and their mentors and Vixenpaw didn't even wait for her mentor's permission before she bounded over to them, the journey flying by as Whiteblossom and Woollyfur joined them too.  
When they arrived, the apprentices' eyes popped wide at the horde of cats already gathered there.  
"This is only one Clan." Woollyfur teased his kits.  
Vixenpaw looked around, trying to pick out any familiar cats among the crowd, eventually picking out Mothspots, who was sat with a dark grey tom who had his back to them and a strangely bent tail.  
"Try not to stare, Vixenpaw." Watersplash's sudden appearance beside her with Silverbreeze made Vixenpaw jump. "That's Kinktail. He fell out of a tree and broke his tail."  
Vixenpaw folded her ears back, recoiling in horror at his name but, not wanting to offend the deputy, bit it back and approached the two ShadowClan cats alongside her fellow WindClan cats.  
"Silverbreeze, Watersplash, Vixenpaw." Mothspots dipped his head to them, making Kinktail turn, greeting them as well, the deputy particularly. Watersplash turned to Mothspots instead, leaving Vixenpaw to look around the clearing, briefly up to where Stagstar and ShadowClan's Lizardstar were on the lower branches of the tree, keeping a polite conversation. Her mind began to drift as she grew impatient.  
 _Where are the other Clans?_  
Her eyes flicked over to the log bridge as a pale brown tom lead one of the other Clans onto the island, closely followed by his younger, female exact image. It was only when she saw Newtdapple among the cats, including a hazel eyed tom who clearly didn't want to stop talking to her about something, that she realised that this was RiverClan. The tom joined the other Leaders on the tree and the she cat joined the Deputies as Newtdapple managed to slip away from the dark brown tom cat and join the Medicine Cats.  
"Was that Otterfur by any chance?" Mothspots mewed roughly.  
"Yes, it was." Newtdapple replied tiredly with a slightly nervous laugh.  
"Lionkit?" Watersplash questioned.  
"Lionkit."  
Vixenpaw watched the exchange with interest.  
"Has she learnt to walk yet?" Watersplash hesitantly asked.  
"Somewhat. She's very unsteady and a little bit slow. She will never give up though."  
"Has Reedstar decided if he'll make her a Warrior yet?"  
"Actually..." Newtdapple trailed off for a moment. "She seems to be very interested in my herbs."  
"What?!" Mothspots immediately fluffed up and Newtdapple winced.  
"Mothspots, cal-"  
"First a mute, now a cat with no tail who can't balance, what next?" He cut Watersplash off in his rage, glaring directly at the two older cats. "Are you trying to weaken us? By making all these disabled kits Medicine Cats?"  
Vixenpaw's hackles rose too, insulted by Mothspots' words, her tail lashing wildly as she stood between the grey and white tom and the other Medicine Cats, which only made him emit a low and threatening hiss back at her.  
"What are you doing?" Boulderroot's stern voice cut through the tension, only now making Vixenpaw aware that lots of cats were looking at them, including the Leaders and Deputies. She sat down, licking her chest in embrassment as Swallowfang stopped by his mentor's side.  
"Newtdapple is going to make Lionkit her apprentice!" Mothspots hissed lowly. "Lionkit! The one who can _barely_ walk at three moons old!"  
"So? If she wants to be a Medicine Cat, then why shouldn't she be?"  
"She. Can't. Walk!" The indifference from Boulderroot and Swallowfang finally made Mothspots snap, storming off into the crowd, the other cats heaving a collective sigh. Vixenpaw, however, saw the look of shared guilt between Watersplash and Newtdapple, particularly when Kinktail excused himself from the other Deputies to go after him.  
Boulderroot and Swallowfang took their spaces beside Newtdapple and Vixenpaw respectively as ThunderClan's Leader, Gorsestar, started the Gathering. Vixenpaw noticed the closeness between him and Stagstar, and how frail they, Newtdapple and particularly Watersplash looked in the moonlight.  
"In ThunderClan, we have a new apprentice, Mousepaw who is being mentored by Birchbranch."  
"Mousepaw! Mousepaw! Mousepaw!" The gathered cats cheered the new apprentice's name and he smiled shyly from the attention from the group of apprentices of all Clans that he was sat in, a white and black tom looking on proudly.  
"We have also chased a pair of foxes from our territory." Gorsestar continued. "I believe they went towards WindClan territory."  
"We will watch for them, Gorsestar." Stagstar nodded, evidently not pleased but not going to say anything about it. "In WindClan, we have new Warriors and new Apprentices. Aspenpaw, Badgerpaw and Foxpaw have become Aspenface, Badgerpatch and Foxstrike!"  
"Aspenface! Badgerpatch! Foxstrike!" The two toms smiled, staying relatively humble, Badgerpatch more so, but Foxstrike soaked up the attention like moss.  
"We also have new apprentices. Vixenpaw has become Watersplash's apprentice, while Doepaw, Nightpaw, Eaglepaw and Longpaw are Warrior Apprentices under Nettleclaw, Goldenfur, Mistspeckle and Brownfoot!"  
"Vixenpaw! Doepaw! Nightpaw! Eaglepaw! Longpaw!" Vixenpaw glanced up at Stagstar, suprised that he had mentioned her first, and he nodded with a smile to her as cats chanted their names. She shared a giddy grin with her siblings too, who were sat with Mousepaw among other young Apprentices.  
"ShadowClan has no new Warriors or Apprentices this time." Lizardstar took the opportunity to speak before Reedstar could. "However, prey is running well for the start of what may become a rather harsh Leaf-fall."  
Uncomfortable murmurs rose among the crowd, which Reedstar silenced with a swish of his thin tail and a cold look.  
"RiverClan has one new Warrior; Harrierheart!" Reedstar announced.  
"Harrierheart! Harrierheart! Harrierheart"  
Vixenpaw watched the cats cheer for him, an alarming ambition in his eyes. He was sat among a group of entirely female Warriors, including Foxstrike who was sat closest of all. Her heart lurched as his sweeping gaze met hers, the fur on her spine prickling omniously.  
"That one is trouble." Swallowfang muttered under his breath.  
Vixenpaw couldn't agree more.

Vixenpaw slumped thankfully into her nest when she returned to camp, ready to fall asleep on the spot.  
But she didn't.  
Her mind swirled wildly with thoughts and feelings, mostly about the Gathering, her first Gathering, and Mothspots.  
 _How I wish I could claw his fur out!_  
Her eyes opened as a heavy sigh reached her ears from the middle of the camp along with pacing pawsteps. Seeing that it wasn't Watersplash, who was asleep in his nest, Vixenpaw got up and looked into camp. There, sat on her own, her amber eyes looking up to Silverpelt, was Foxstrike. Confused and slightly concerned, Vixenpaw started to go to her, sitting down beside her.  
"Hello Vixenpaw." Foxstrike didn't take her eyes off the sky, speaking monotonously. "Why are you here?"  
Vixenpaw fixed her gaze on Foxstrike, who eventually looked back down at her.  
"Me?"  
Vixenpaw nodded, not moving her gaze.  
"What about me?"  
Vixenpaw tilted her head.  
"What's wrong with me?"  
Vixenpaw nodded her head, worry radiating from her.  
"I just wonder why the Warrior Code is as it is. Why aren't we allowed to have close friends and mates from outside our Clan? Why do we not have to kill to win? Why do we have to care for kits that aren't our own?"  
Horror made her stomach knot, but Vixenpaw managed a shaky nod to the Elders' Den.  
"No no, I'm not interested in their stories, Vixenpaw, I'm not a kit." The red she cat huffed, her face soon falling back into the sad expression she had before. "Can you keep a secret?" She asked in a hushed tone.  
Vixenpaw nodded slowly.  
"You remember that new warrior from RiverClan? Harrierheart?"  
The calico's heart began to beat out her chest as she prompted the warrior to continue.  
"Well..."  
Realisation clicked in Vixenpaw's mind as Foxstrike licked her chest. Foxstrike was in love with Harrierheart.  
"Don't look at me like that." Foxstrike retorted as she saw the Medicine Cat's wide eyed expression. "You have an equal chance of becoming mates with a tom as I do with him."  
The apprentice wrinkled her nose. She knew that Medicine Cats weren't allowed to have mates or kits, and she was fine with that.  
An awkward silence lingered over the two she cats until the Warrior yawned.  
"Well, thank you for letting me talk to you, Vixenpaw." She mewed, her eyelids beginning to droop. "I'm going to my nest now. Rest well. As Lizardstar said, Leaf-fall is going to be hard, which means Leaf-bare is going to be very challenging."  
Vixenpaw just dipped her head as the she cat went into the Warriors' Den, managing to tread silently as not to wake anyone up, leaving her in the middle of camp. Alone.


	6. Chapter Five

All was peaceful in the near Leaf-bare WindClan camp. Most cats were out on patrols and those that weren't were resting in their dens out of the chilly wind.  
Watersplash was once again sat in the herb store with Vixenpaw, teaching her about some of the more uncommon herbs, when a panicked screech rang out across camp.  
 _Bluewhisker!_  
"Hurry, Vixenpaw, and bring that borage!" Watersplash mewed, crunching through the snow thin layer of snow as he ran over to the Nursery. Vixenpaw followed behind, clutching their optimistic supply in her jaws as she pushed her way through.  
All alone, Bluewhisker looked up in alarm at the two Medicine Cats as they rushed in.  
"Where is Bramblenose? And Darkfall?" She mewed shakily.  
"They both joined hunting patrols. They will be back soon." Watersplash told her. "But your kits are coming now."  
Bluewhisker nodded, hissing at the pain through gritted teeth as Watersplash sat down in front of her, getting Vixenpaw to sit beside him so she could watch for her training. Vixenpaw laid her tail across the Queen's paws as her kits were born as a gesture of comfort.  
As each one was born, either Watersplash or Bluewhisker licked it clean and put it up against the blue she cat's belly. But not one made a sound.  
"A-Are they alive?" Bluewhisker asked quietly, breaking the silence that had fallen over the Nursery.  
Watersplash licked each of the four kits again, harder, trying to get them even to respond to him. His folded ears and bowed head told the two she cats enough, Bluewhisker letting out a wail of despair.  
"Bluewhisker!" Darkfall shouldered his way into the Nursery, straight to his mate.  
"I'm sorry, Darkfall." Watersplash mewed solemnly but rhythmically. "You can name them or StarClan will. I will..."  
Vixenpaw stopped paying attention, her ears pricking as Darkfall wrapped his fluffy tail around his kits. She was sure she heard a raspy squeak. As Bluewhisker nuzzled each of her kits, she heard it again. The blue, white and black one. Eyes narrowed in determination, she took to the little tom cat, licking him vigorously, despite the protests of the other cats. Her persistence paid off as the adult cats were stunned into silence by the cry of the kit - the same any newborn kit.  
Watersplash nudged her aside in order to let the parents have their moment with their surviving kit.  
"Thank you, Vixenpaw." Darkfall mewed, his voice swelling in joy, to which Vixenpaw dipped her head back with a smile.  
It took another nudge from Watersplash to get Vixenpaw to leave the parents in peace, but, as she left, she heard them name their kit Dewkit.  
"I'm glad you heard that." Watersplash smiled a strangely hollow smile. "Go on, get some fresh kill and I'll report to Stagstar."  
Vixenpaw didn't need telling twice, eagerly bounding over to the fresh kill pile as Watersplash padded towards Stagstar's Den.

As Leaf-bare reached it's peak, so did the tension between Mothspots and the other Medicine Cats, besides the ThunderClan cats. Newtdapple had made it clear that Lionkit was going to become her Apprentice whether Mothspots liked it or not.  
And tonight was that night.  
"Vixenpaw! Let me catch up!" Watersplash called to his apprentice, who was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't realised that he was lagging behind, wheezing as he caught his breath when she finally stopped to let him catch up.  
"We'll wait for Newtdapple here." He told her, sitting down and facing towards RiverClan territory.  
Vixenpaw sat beside him, the silence companionable and full of mutual worry.  
 _Will Mothspots cause trouble?_  
The WindClan cats scented the RiverClan cats long before they saw them, Newtdapple running up with a golden tailless she cat bounding awkwardly behind her, nearly falling over as she came to a stop with her mentor, almost crashing into the other Medicine Cats.  
"Greetings!" Newtdapple breathlessly mewed to the WindClan cats. "Meet my apprentice, Lionpaw."  
"Hello!" Lionpaw beamed with the excitement of a kit, full of energy and enthusiasm.  
"Greetings, Lionpaw." Watersplash greeted. "I'm Watersplash, and this is Vixenpaw."  
"Wow! Vixenpaw!" Lionpaw immediately turned her attention to the calico. "Another apprentice! We'll be the best Medicine Cats!"  
The older cats mrrowed in amusement as Vixenpaw grinned back, nodding her head eagerly in an act for the younger she cat.  
"We must get going." Watersplash mewed. "The others will be waiting for us."  
Newtdapple fell into place beside Watersplash, the two cats chattering away like finches again, but Lionpaw kept the walk to Moonpool interesting for Vixenpaw as she gushed over her ambition to be a Medicine Cat and all the herbs she had already learned, which was more than Vixenpaw had.  
As they approached Moonpool, Vixenpaw wasn't at all surprised to see only the ThunderClan Medicine Cats there.  
 _I knew he would skip Lionpaw's apprentice ceremony._ Vixenpaw thought as she shared a rather fed up glance with Watersplash.  
However, what did suprise her was that both of the toms looked so exhausted that they could fall asleep standing up. Lionpaw, however, seemed to be oblivious to the faint tension in the air, immediately sprawling beside her mentor as she tried to stop her sprint.  
"Boulderroot? Swallowfang?" Watersplash spoke first to the tired Medicine Cats. "Why are you so tired?"  
"Greencough outbreak." Boulderroot replied simply, standing up and stretching out before padding forward to greet the other Medicine Cats, his apprentice close behind.  
"ShadowClan too." Swallowfang added. "Mothspots didn't think he would make it. I didn't think we would either."  
"You didn't have to come if your Clan needs you more." Newtdapple told them, her voice deep in concern.  
"Nonsense. We couldn't miss Lionpaw's ceremony." Swallowfang replied, smiling brightly at Lionpaw. "Welcome."  
However, during the conversation, Watersplash carried a strange expression on his face, one of a great and horrible realisation. When he made eye contact with Vixenpaw, he only mouthed "Hailshade", which made her spine prickle. She knew the Elder was ill, but she didn't realise it was as potentially fatal as greencough.  
"Come." Boulderroot's voice interrupted her thoughts as he began to lead the other Medicine Cats down into the hollow, Vixenpaw ending up just before Lionpaw. She took her place with the other Medicine Cats as Lionpaw waited in the entrance, and Newtdapple performed her ceremony.  
"Lionpaw, is it your wish to become a Medicine Cat and enter the mysteries of StarClan?" She spoke directly to the tailless cat, as if the other cats weren't there.  
"It is." Lionpaw confirmed, her eyes sparkling in the reflected light of Moonpool.  
"Then come forward."  
Lionpaw padded slowly to her mentor's side, careful of her footing on the beach, ending up beside Vixenpaw.  
"Cats of StarClan, I present you with this apprentice, who has chosen the path of the Medicine Cat." Newtdapple spoke towards the pool now, her head raised towards the sky. "Grant her your wisdom so that she may understand your ways and heal her Clan in accordance with your will."  
With a nod from the RiverClan Medicine Cat, all the cats gathered padded forward to drink from the Moonpool and laying down to share tongues with StarClan.

Vixenpaw woke up in StarClan to the sound of giggling kits, her heart immediately beginning to beat out of her chest.  
 _Bluewhisker's kits?..._  
Sure enough, three kits entered the clearing where she had woken up; a deep blue tom cat with green eyes, a black furred she cat with green eyes and a small white she cat with tortoiseshell dapples and amber eyes. She recognised them instantly.  
"Don't worry, Vixenpaw. We're safe here." The tom told her, making the apprentice loose all tension in her body.  
"A lovely cat called Blossomtail is looking after us and our brother, Jackdawkit. She named us too." The black she cat smiled kindly.  
"We're Rainkit, Blackkit and Smallkit." The dappled kit mewed as a tortoiseshell she cat joined the kits alongside a black tom. Vixenpaw quickly noticed that they had green eyes just like Darkfall, Rainkit and Blackkit.  
"Thank you for saving Dewkit." Blossomtail touched her nose to Vixenpaw's head. "He will be very well loved by Darkfall and Bluewhisker."  
"We will never forget this." The black tom mewed, purring brightly, his amber eyes full of the wisdom of StarClan.  
"But you must find your strength." Blossomtail changed the conversation entirely. "Your Clan depends on it's Medicine Cats as much as it does on it's Leader and Warriors."  
Jackdawkit rolled his eyes as Vixenpaw's dream began to fade.  
"We're always here for you!"

As soon as they had parted from the RiverClan Medicine Cats, Watersplash picked up the pace back to camp.  
"I didn't think it could be greencough!" Watersplash called back to Vixenpaw, who ran to try and keep pace with him. "It could have spread so much in the last few days!"  
Vixenpaw's heart sank as she remembered how exhausted Boulderroot and Swallowfang were.  
 _Could we have an outbreak like ThunderClan's?_  
Watersplash didn't even stop to greet Stagstar, who had choosen to guard camp for the night, instead rushing straight to the Elders' Den, where Hailshade was coughing violently, as much as he was trying to hide it, but Willowmist was also starting to cough.  
"Hailshade, Willowmist, you're moving to my Den to stop the spread." Watersplash bluntly stated as the two Medicine Cats arrived.  
"No. It's just damp in here." Hailshade retorted. "Those apprentices keep bringing damp moss in for our bedding."  
As Watersplash argued with the stubborn Elder, Vixenpaw's attention was taken by rustling and hushed voices in the Nursery, which she quickly went to investigate, being met with two pairs of scared eyes as she came in.  
"It's Dewkit! He won't stop coughing!" Bluewhisker mewed quickly, moving her tail so that Vixenpaw could see the kit, who was coughing as much as Willowmist, but each cough shook his tiny body.  
"I heard Snowfang coughing too. Is it greencough?" Bramblenose asked.  
Vixenpaw couldn't take the pressure of both of the Queens looking at her, so she quickly scampered away, pulling Watersplash away from the Elders and to the Nursery.  
"I think we could be having an outbreak." Watersplash answered Bramblenose's question. "Though it is possible that Dewkit has just caught a chill. His fur is very thin and he is still young."  
Vixenpaw, however, knew he was trying to save her feelings.  
She turned as the pink eyed Snowfang emerged from the Medicine Cats' Den, where he had already seperated himself from the others. She went to meet him, taking him to the Elders' Den.  
"You're coughing, Hailshade." He told the stubborn Elder. "Dewkit might have it too."  
Hailshade was evidently taken off his stride, his eyes wide in shock.  
"Greencough?"  
Vixenpaw nodded slowly and the Elder quickly stood up.  
"I'll move. I don't want it spreading any more than it already has." He solemnly mewed, Willowmist padding alongside him as they moved to the Medicine Cats' Den, where Watersplash gave them some catmint and told them to sleep.  
"I let Dewkit stay with Bluewhisker." He told Vixenpaw in a hushed voice as not to disturb the ill cats. "We'll need to watch him closely."  
Vixenpaw didn't think it was wise, but couldn't argue with her mentor as he fell asleep almost instantly.

By the following evening, Icefern and Ashear had also started to cough as well and so were also secluded to the Medicine Cats' Den, but their medicine supply was running very low. Despite looking most of the day, they didn't find any more catmint.  
Vixenpaw was just settling in her nest as she heard coughing that wasn't from the seperated cats.  
Without a second thought, Vixenpaw stood up and took some catmint from the herb store before dropping at Watersplash's paws.  
"Catmint is for the sick cats." The blue tom groggily mewed, pushing them back to her.  
However, no sooner had he pushed them away, she pushed them back to him.  
"I'm not sick and we can't afford to waste herbs." He crossly mewed.  
As soon as Watersplash nudged them away again, Vixenpaw moved them right back, looking stubbornly at him, almost standing over him. The two cats stared each other down, silently fighting their arguement before Vixenpaw turned away, frustrated but not willing to give in, and went back to her nest to sleep.  
But what she didn't see was the older cat sighing and quickly eating up the herbs before he curled back up to rest.


	7. Chapter Six

Vixenpaw woke up early the next morning to her stomach rumbling loudly. The snow outside seemed to be getting deeper and deeper with every passing day and the air over the moors only got colder and colder. As soon as she stepped outside the den, she was nearly blown over by the frosty wind, making her shiver as the cold easily got through her thin pelt. Stagstar, the Warriors and the Apprentices had stayed in animal dens overnight and judging by the number of cats surrounding Silverbreeze, it didn't look set to change.  
Vixenpaw slipped by, going to the dwindling prey pile.  
 _I should get something for Watersplash to try and make up for last night._  
Picking out some prey, two scrawny looking mice, she padded back, dropping the mice before him where he was still curled up in his nest. She nudged him, trying to wake him up.  
No response.  
Vixenpaw waited for him go stir, but the more she waited, the more she realised he didn't seem to be breathing. She scampered out the den again, looking around wildly for help, spotting Woollyfur on the edge of the crowd, starting to push him towards the Medicine Cats' Den.  
"Vixenpaw, what's wrong?" The cream tom mewed in suprise, falling into step beside her as she lead him back to the Den, to where Watersplash was still in his nest, exactly the same as she had left him last night.  
Woollyfur was silent, padding up to the blue tom and nudging him, harder than Vixenpaw had, starting to shake as Watersplash still didn't respond. He pushed harder, shaking him more, but only when his efforts had brought the Medicine Cat out of his original position did the horrible truth sink in.  
Woollyfur yowled an ear piercing yowl of horror, which sent Stagstar, among others, running over to them. He didn't even let Stagstar speak before he spoke.  
"Watersplash is dead!"

Vixenpaw sat with Stagstar in his Den as Woollyfur brought Watersplash out into camp. Her ears were folded over, her body drooping. Her thoughts were full of fear.  
 _What about my training?_  
"I'm very sorry, Vixenpaw." Stagstar interrupted her thoughts, his expression full of greater sorrow than she realised. "Has StarClan spoken to you about what to do now?"  
Vixenpaw kept her head low, shaking her head. She didn't feel like StarClan spoke to her that often anyway.  
"I see." Stagstar mewed hollowly, beginning to stand up.  
Vixenpaw suddenly looked up, nudging Stagstar's shoulder as he was leaving and pointing her muzzle towards ThunderClan, who had _two_ fully trained Medicine Cats.  
"You think we should ask ThunderClan for help?" He asked, the young calico nodding her reply. "Well, I suppose we don't have much choice. Do you want to leave now?"  
Vixenpaw nodded, but looked back to the Medicine Cats' Den to all the sick cats in the Clan, her mind working overtime to try and remember who was ill and who wasn't.  
"Of course, you have sick cats to attend to. Come find me when you're ready to go."  
Vixenpaw dipped her head to Stagstar before leaving his Den. She felt weak, like she could collapse any time, particularly when she passed the crowd of cats gathered around Watersplash. Knowing most of the cats in her Den were asleep, she diverted to the Nursery, the sound of coughing making her feel physically sick as she slunk in, finding Dewkit still coughing, but Bluewhisker and Bramblenose starting to look ill too, a rabbit left in the corner of the Nursery from the day before, untouched by the Queens.  
"We're sorry, Vixenpaw. We should have come earlier." Bramblenose quietly mewed, careful not to wake up Bluewhisker or Dewkit.  
Vixenpaw shook her head with a weak smile, trying to soothe the old she cat, before returning with the very last of their catmint as Bluewhisker woke up. She made sure the two Queens ate their herbs, letting Bluewhisker tear up the leaf to give to Dewkit. She trusted that she would make sure the kit took it.  
In her Den, most of the cats had gone back to sleep after Watersplash was taken into the camp centre. However, the two sick Elders were awake, though Hailshade was barely breathing and barely moving but Willowmist was right beside him, her tail running gently up and down his back, like Bramblenose did when Queens were kitting. The brown-grey Elder looked up at the calico as she came in, her eyes clouded in the mutual understanding that Hailshade was soon going to join StarClan. Snowfang too was breathing raspily, the sickly and poorly sighted tom wasn't likely to survive. She handed out what chickweed there was, neither she nor Watersplash had anticipated a breakout like this, before padding over to Stagstar, who was sat with some of his senior warriors, including Whiteblossom and Woollyfur.  
"Can I help at all, Vixenpaw?" Woollyfur asked.  
Vixenpaw shrugged half heartedly, grateful for the help, but unsure as to what he could do.  
"You can stand in for her until we get back." Stagstar told Woollyfur. "We will be back soon."  
The thick furred tom nodded, going to the Medicine Cat's Den as Stagstar and Vixenpaw left camp.

When the two cats got to the Moonpool stream, they took a moment to rest before they continued. Stagstar hadn't said a word until this point, only raising from his resting spot by the river to catch a weak rabbit for them to eat, though Vixenpaw noticed he barely ate any of it and didn't drink much from the stream either.  
"Is ThunderClan sick too?" Stagstar asked quietly, his voice barely audible against the rushing stream.  
Vixenpaw nodded, nodding towards the other Clans as well.  
"I see." Stagstar sighed. "I hope Gorsestar will be able to help."  
Once they buried the bones of the rabbit, the WindClan cats crossed the stream to the ThunderClan forest.  
The sound of just their pawsteps crunching in the undergrowth and the wind whistling through the trees put Vixenpaw on edge, as did the lack of ThunderClan cats. She almost felt trapped in the area, the dense trees preventing her from seeing very far around her, everything looking the same. Stagstar, however, seemed to know his way through ThunderClan territory as well as he did through the moors.  
Suddenly, a bird screeched and flew into the air, shattering the quiet and sending Vixenpaw recoiling backwards in surprise, ready to flee back to her own territory.  
"Who is there?!"  
The two WindClan cats looked over as a patrol of four cats raced up, lead by a white and black tom, Birchbranch, along with Mousepaw, a mostly red tortoiseshell she cat and a dark brown tabby tom. They seemed hostile, but also thin and weak.  
"Forgive us." Stagstar spoke quickly before the patrol had a chance to argue. "But we need to speak to Gorsestar and your Medicine Cats. It's urgent."  
The patrol visibly bristled at the mention of Gorsestar, but gave nothing else away.  
"You better come with us then." Birchbranch mewed coarsely, his patrol flanking the two WindClan cats and practically marching them to the ThunderClan camp.  
As soon as they got into the ravine that made up ThunderClan's camp, it became clear why the patrol was tense. Gorsestar laid in the middle of camp, lifeless.  
"Wait here. I'll fetch Redstar." Birchbranch mewed, adding a grey she cat to his patrol and sending them back out.  
His face twisted in horror and grief, Stagstar padded slowly up to the deceased Leader, sitting beside him and bowing his head, like any other cat would for a deceased Clanmate. Vixenpaw sat alone, looking around the camp as they waited. Her ears pricked as the brambles over the Medicine Cats' Den shifted and Boulderroot came out, taking a second to recognise Vixenpaw sat there, giving her a puzzled look.  
When Birchbranch finally came back with Redstar, the white tom disappeared into the Medicine Cats' Den with Boulderroot. Redstar, however, regarded the WindClan cats with indifference, leading the two cats to his Den wordlessly.  
"So, what brings you here?" Redstar asked, somewhat coarsely but also forcing himself to be civil.  
"We need help from your Medicine Cats." Stagstar mewed. "Watersplash passed away overnight and Vixenpaw's training is not complete."  
"Watersplash is dead?" Boulderroot mewed as he and Swallowfang entered the den.  
Vixenpaw nodded sadly.  
"Yes. From greencough." Stagstar replied.  
"What about the rest of your Clan?" Swallowfang's question was directed at Vixenpaw, who winced, shaking her head sadly. She knew that Watersplash wouldn't be the only cat going to StarClan.  
"We're having a breakout, I'm afraid." Stagstar answered. "There are a fair few sick cats."  
"Vixenpaw's training?" Redstar sharply diverted the subject.  
"Apologies." Stagstar dipped his head to the young Leader. "Watersplash didn't get to finish Vixenpaw's training. We hoped that one of you could help."  
"I'll go to WindClan." Swallowfang said after a moment of silence.  
"Are you sure, Swallowfang?" Boulderroot looked concerned.  
"I am. I'm sure you can handle the end of the greencough. I'll be back before you know it."  
Vixenpaw's eyes widened as Swallowfang touched noses with his mentor. She didn't feel like she would ever be ready to care for her Clan by herself.  
"Thank you for your help, Redstar." Stagstar nodded to the red tom as they began to leave his Den.  
"Medicine Cats help each other." Redstar replied coldly. His tone made Vixenpaw wince. She had a feeling the peace between the two Clans was no longer certain.  
"Do you need any herbs?" Swallowfang asked before they left and Vixenpaw nodded very keenly, getting some catmint before they left for WindClan.

That night, Stagstar, Swallowfang and Vixenpaw sat vigil for Watersplash alongside Woollyfur, though the Medicine Cats kept a close watch on the sick cats. Willowmist had taken a turn in the night and seemed to be closer to StarClan than Hailshade was. Vixenpaw feared for the other sick cats, especially the Queens, Dewkit and Snowfang. Stagstar too seemed to be falling ill, his breathing irregular and he was wheezing. Not long after they left the vigil, Stagstar came into the Medicine Cats' Den, concerned for his own health and taking a bit of catmint.  
Later that day, Silverbreeze brought Owlfeather to the Medicine Cats. While Vixenpaw settled him in and got him some herbs, Swallowfang took Silverbreeze aside to talk to her, but Vixenpaw could hear what they were saying.  
"Silverbreeze, I am concerned that Stagstar has come down with greencough too." He gently mewed, but Silverbreeze didn't seem that concerned.  
"He has two lives left." She replied. "He won't loose him from this greencough."  
 _I don't want him to loose_ any _lives._ Vixenpaw thought coldly.  
After sitting vigil, the Den felt colder than ever before. As Vixenpaw laid in her nest, she shivered as she couldn't get warm.  
She heard shuffling and soon felt another pelt against hers.  
"It's very cold here, isn't it?" Swallowfang mewed sleepily.  
Vixenpaw looked back and nodded back to him, shivering a little more, to which Swallowfang moved closer.  
"Can't have you getting sick too." He mewed. "Goodnight Vixenpaw."  
Her new mentor fell asleep almost instantly, his chest rising and falling peacefully. For the first time in days, Vixenpaw felt reassured that everything would turn out fine.


	8. Chapter Seven

The next few days passed in a haze of despair for WindClan. Hailshade and Willowmist had joined StarClan during Swallowfang's second night in WindClan and Snowfang passed away during the following day. Morale in the Clan had slumped to an all time low, particularly when Stagstar moved to the Medicine Cats' Den, along with Bramblenose, Bluewhisker and Dewkit as Morningshine had finally moved into the Nursery with Harestep's kits. Not that Vixenpaw saw what the cream cat saw in the miserable tom.  
Vixenpaw was awoken by Swallowfang nudging her awake, though she was slow to wake. She felt short of breath and her head hurt a little bit. She wasn't ready to do too much yet.  
"Let's see if we can find some catmint or chickweed." The brown and white tom mewed brightly. Vixenpaw admired how Swallowfang stayed so optimistic. She certainly didn't feel like it. The Medicine Cats' Den felt crowded with all the sick cats, including Bluewhisker who was trying to get every last bit of help she could get out of the Medicine Cats, endlessly fussing over Dewkit. It was just so exhausting.  
She finally joined Swallowfang by the entrance as Woollyfur and his apprentice Yellowpaw left camp with Whiteblossom and Owlfeather's apprentice, Cherrypaw. Her parents smiled at her as they walked past but Cherrypaw stopped.  
"How is Owlfeather?" She ask quickly. "Will he be able to keep training me?"  
"He's under our care." Swallowfang answered cryptically, which made Vixenpaw look curiously at him. "We'll look after him."  
 _Maybe he isn't as confident as he appears to be._  
To the calico's relief, Whiteblossom called the apprentice away before she could ask anymore questions, letting the two Medicine Cats go herb hunting.  
Vixenpaw lead the tom cat to where Watersplash had once found a lone stalk of catmint, which had made up the majority of their supply, but under the snow and in the cold it had wilted and was nearly dead. She picked the last few usable leaves off before they moved towards the river, where she knew some chickweed was. That was until she found them trampled by some passing creature.  
"Is this it?" Swallowfang asked, somewhere between disappointed and horrified, particularly when Vixenpaw nodded. "Take what we have back to camp. I'll try getting something from Boulderroot."  
Without even giving her time to protest, Swallowfang disappeared into the ThunderClan forests, leaving her to pad back alone. Though the wind was cold and she was shivering, she wasn't shivering because of the cold. In fact, she felt warm, overly so.  
When she did get back to camp and had put what herbs they had managed to gather in the store, her eyes fell on one herb with small flowers and a sharp smell. She couldn't remember what it was called, but she knew what it could do.  
 _Maybe I should have it. But it's the last one._  
After a moment of debate, she looked around her.  
No one was looking.  
She quickly took the leaf went to her nest, which was in an alcove in the boulder along with Swallowfang's, and promptly ate it before laying down in her nest, unintentionally falling asleep.

"Vixenpaw!"  
The apprentice woke up with a start, finding her mentor glaring down at her, his optimistic personality gone. His eyes were full of rage, but that hid something else.  
Her head hung low, Vixenpaw shakily got up, her fever and headache gone.  
"Do I smell feverfew on your breath?" He asked, his anger replaced by curiousity and his voice starting to shake a little. "Are you sick?"  
All Vixenpaw did was shrug. She certainly didn't feel sick anymore, but that was because she had the herbs.  
"Hmm." Swallowfang seemed to eye her for a second, judging her. "Let's go see Morningshine. Her kits can't be far away."  
Vixenpaw purred a little, managing a little sprint to catch him up as he padded towards the Nursery, finding Morningshine in there with Harestep and a rabbit that they were sharing.  
"Morningshine. Harestep." Swallowfang greeted as they pushed through the gorse bush.  
While Harestep just gave them a curt nod, Morningshine smiled brightly, clearly excited as her tail curled around her heavily pregnant belly, which wasn't as big as Vixenpaw expected.  
"How much longer, Swallowfang?" She asked, her eyes sparkling in the evening light. "How much longer until they're here?"  
Vixenpaw saw Harestep look at her rather than Swallowfang, she gently nodded her head towards the full Medicine Cat, though he gave a slight glare of distrust to the ThunderClan cat, which he ignored.  
"Very soon now, Morningshine. Within the next few days I think." Swallowfang replied.  
"Before the Gathering?" The cream she cat questioned.  
"Probably yes."  
Vixenpaw blinked, not entirely taking in the conversation. Everything had happened so fast she had forgotten that the Gathering was only a few days away. She knew Stagstar wasn't going to be well enough to go, but Silverbreeze had been handling the duties of a Leader very well. Almost too well.  
"Have you eaten yet? The apprentices have done very well hunting." The Queen's words snapped Vixenpaw out of her internal worries, shaking her head. "I'll get you something."  
"No, you need to rest." Harestep pushed her gently back down as he stood up. " _I'll_ go get it."  
Swallowfang laid down to talk with Morningshine to prepare her for the birth of her kits and Vixenpaw laid down too, her headache starting to come back. Strangely, the thought of prey made her stomach protest. When Harestep came back with two tiny mice, Vixenpaw nodded her thanks and dutifully ate some.  
Suddenly, her stomach churned violently. Vixenpaw immediately ran to the dirtplace as fast as she could before she threw up. A wave of hollowness swept across her mind as she sat down, trying to overcome the dizziness.  
"Oh StarClan." Swallowfang had followed her when she raced off and was now stood beside her, getting her to get up and lean against him as he took her back to her nest. "Stay here. I'll come back in a moment."  
Vixenpaw laid in her nest and watched him go, curling up in a little ball, like a kit, closing her eyes and trying to sleep, but her head was too fuzzy to let her sleep. After a while, she heard Swallowfang come back and laid beside her, his flank against hers, starting to lick the fur on her back.  
"You don't mind me sharing tongues with you, do you?" He questioned when she looked at him curiously. When she shook her head, he purred very quietly and continued to groom her, which Vixenpaw found very relaxing, soothing her worries. Eventually, she turned her head to groom him.  
"So, I went to see Boulderroot could give us any herbs." Swallowfang mewed as Vixenpaw groomed him. "But, well..."  
Vixenpaw stopped to look at him, prompting him to continue.  
"I thought ThunderClan would have been over this epidemic by now. They're not."

When the night of the Gathering finally came, Vixenpaw padded up to Swallowfang's side as the cats going gathered around Silverbreeze. As she thought, Stagstar was not well enough to go to the Gathering.  
"I thought we said you were staying behind?" Swallowfang mewed, not coarsely or angrily, but curiously.  
Vixenpaw shook her head, nodding towards Woollyfur who was padding towards the Nursery.  
"Ah. Woollyfur." Swallowfang watched him disappear into the Nursery, greeting Morningshine. "Are you sure you're well enough?"  
Vixenpaw nodded, but she was lying. She still felt feverish and achy, and she was bitting back the urge to cough, but at least she was mobile.  
Silverbreeze soon led all the cats away, Vixenpaw just managing to keep up with her Clan, being very relieved when they were finally crossing the tree to get to the Island.  
Unfortunately, RiverClan and ShadowClan were already there and there was a thick air of tension between them. Even Mothspots was sat away from Newtdapple and Lionpaw.  
When Vixenpaw and Swallowfang went towards the other Medicine Cats, Mothspots came over, only through curiosity.  
"Why are you with WindClan?" He mewed slowly.  
"And where is Watersplash?" Newtdapple added.  
"Watersplash joined StarClan the night after our last Moonpool meeting." Swallowfang explained, Vixenpaw lowering her head and folding her ears. "Stagstar asked one of us to finish Vixenpaw's training, and I volunteered to go."  
Newtdapple was stunned into silence, her jaws opening and closing a few times before she gave up trying to speak, her head hanging in immeasurable grief. Vixenpaw sat beside her, resting her tail on the RiverClan cat's, who gave her a weak smile of appreciation back.  
"Where is Stagstar?" Lionpaw asked, referring to the fact that Silverbreeze had joined Reedstar and Lizardstar on the tree.  
"Sick with greencough. A lot of WindClan cats are." Swallowfang sighed. "We've lost two Elders and a Warrior. Two Queens and a kit are sick, along with Stagstar and more Warriors."  
Vixenpaw internally recoiled in horror as Swallowfang blurted it all out to the other Medicine Cats until she remembered that Medicine Cats could talk like this, but she knew some nosey cats were listening in.  
"I have some spare catmint if you need it." Mothspots gently offered.  
"Same with us." Newtdapple looked up now, grief still clouding her eyes.  
"We are nearly out. Thank you. We'll collect it in the morning." Swallowfang replied.  
"Did he die peacefully?" Newtdapple whispered to Vixenpaw as the other Medicine Cats, eventually including Boulderroot, talked.  
Vixenpaw nodded, her mind replaying the horror of finding him dead in his nest, her ears folding closer to her head.  
"That's something. He is at peace now." Newtdapple touched her nose to Vixenpaw's head as the Leaders called the start of the Gathering.  
"After the death of Gorsestar due to greencough, I have become Leader." Redstar announced coolly. "Birchbranch is now the Deputy of ThunderClan."  
"Redstar! Birchbranch!" The cats chanted for the newly promoted cats, though Vixenpaw noticed a certain uncomfortableness among the more senior WindClan cats.  
"While Stagstar, among others, are currently sick in WindClan, they will soon recover." Silverbreeze mewed, her head held high. "At the passing of Watersplash, Swallowfang has come to us to finish Vixenpaw's training. Thank you Redstar and Swallowfang."  
"He wasn't on Reedstar's list." Vixenpaw's heard Lionpaw murmur to herself as Reedstar began to talk.  
Curiously, the calico followed the golden apprentice's gaze to where a brown tom was just about to leave the clearing, with a red furred she cat close to his white paws.  
 _And she wasn't on Silverbreeze's..._  
Vixenpaw knew she was sat too close to the Leaders to sneak off and follow them, so she could only sit and watch as the two cats left together, focused only on each other and nothing else, and her stomach knotted, threatening to make her sick again.

Once the cats returned to camp, Woollyfur was quick to meet Swallowfang and Vixenpaw, looking totally exhausted and rather sad.  
"O-Owlfeather has gone." He mewed shakily, full of grief at the passing of his sole littermate. "And I think Stagstar lost a life too."  
"Owlfeather is dead?" Silverbreeze interrupted their conversation, her eyes wide in horror.  
"Yes. I'm sorry, Silverbreeze."  
The silver tabby quickly ran out to where the speckled warrior was laid, her body shaking as she sat down beside him.  
"Thank you for everything, Woollyfur." Swallowfang mewed to the cream tom. "Please, you rest too."  
"I will be on vigil tonight, but, I will." The warrior dipped his head and padded out, leaving the two Medicine Cats with the remainder of the sick cats, who were all asleep. They went to their nests, ready to sleep the rest of the night away.  
Only when the camp was quiet again did Swallowfang shuffle over.  
"Vixenpaw, do you feel like you want to cough? Like the sick cats?" He asked her wearily.  
Vixenpaw blinked, thinking for a moment before nodding slowly.  
"I feared so. You may have caught greencough."


	9. Chapter Eight

She may have fallen asleep quickly, but Vixenpaw didn't sleep very long as the damp and cold air got to her chest, making her cough mildly. When she properly woke up, she saw that the sun was just rising and the dawn patrol was gathering in the center of camp. It was only when she tried to get up did she find out that Swallowfang had curled himself around her to keep her warm, his head on her back and his tail wrapped around her, making her warm under her pelt, but she knew she had to get out. She didn't want to make him ill too.  
As slowly as she could, she slunk out from Swallowfang and silently slipped into the area where the other ill cats were sleeping, flumping down into the nest that Stagstar had just left. He had gone back to his Den so that he didn't catch greencough again. She thought she hadn't woken the brown and white tom up until she saw his ice blue eyes looking at her from their alcove, so she pretended to be asleep until he went away, but she couldn't fall asleep again.  
She watched the patrol cats leave and the camp fall quiet again before putting her head down on her paws, closing her eyes, trying to get some rest at least before Swallowfang questioned her again.  
 _I can't do anything right in his eyes. It's like Watersplash all over again._  
"Psst, Vixenpaw!"  
Vixenpaw opened her eyes as Dewkit touched his paw to her nose, making her recoil a little bit and wrinkle her nose to get rid of the weird feeling. She sat up, looking down at the tiny kit. He seemed to be a new version of himself and, more importantly, free of greencough.  
"I'm bored, Vixenpaw. And no one else is awake." He complained. "Can we play?"  
Vixenpaw nodded but tilted her head to one side questioningly.  
"Let's play hide and seek!" He bounced on his paws, sighing dramatically as Vixenpaw gave him a firm look. "I won't leave camp and I won't bother any of the sleeping cats. I'll hide first!"  
Dewkit raced away into camp as Vixenpaw watched on in amusement, looking away so the kit could hide before she padded out into camp, wondering where the kit was likely to have hidden. She dropped into a crouch as she stalked around the rock that made up the back of the Nursery, thinking he might be missing it, but nothing. She changed her path towards the Elders' Den, worried that he'd hidden inside and had woken up Littlefire and Frostwing, but the two Elders were still sleeping peacefully.  
 _Thank StarClan they didn't get ill._  
Vixenpaw sat down by Tallrock, her eyes scanning the camp, trying to pick out where the kit had gone. However, her search was quickly ended as she heard giggling from the Den where the Apprentices were sleeping. She looked in, seeing the kit sat among the rest of the Apprentices, particularly Cherrypaw and Yellowpaw. Deciding to join them, she sat beside Nightpaw as the kit gushed to the Apprentices about having some denmates soon, Morningshine's kits, though Vixenpaw thought that they should have been here already. The fact that they were late was making her a little twitchy, paranoid about every single noise coming from the Nursery and her heart beating a little bit quicker every time a cat left the Nursery or approached either of the Medicine Cats.  
However, she put those thoughts aside, just happy to spend time with cats her age without the pressure of being a Medicine Cat. Like it had been when she was in the Nursery.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Swallowfang who found Vixenpaw and Dewkit and ushered them back to the Medicine Cats' Den, it was Bluewhisker. Not that Vixenpaw minded. It seemed to cheer up at least the Queens that Dewkit was better.  
Vixenpaw was resting in the winter sun just outside the Medicine Cats' Den with Dewkit, letting the kit ramble excitedly about meeting the Apprentices, when Harestep urgently sprinted over.  
"Where's Swallowfang?" He asked, his eyes wide. "Morningshine's kits are coming!"  
Vixenpaw shakily nodded her head to the territory outside camp. He had left early that morning for RiverClan and ShadowClan to pick up the promised catmint.  
"W-Will he be back soon?" Harestep visibly looked scared now, particularly when Vixenpaw shrugged, standing up and taking Dewkit back to the other Queens, picking up the herbs she could probably use and getting to Morningshine as quick as she could. She knew she couldn't ask for the other Queens either, while Dewkit had already recovered, they seemed to have gotten worse, particularly Bramblenose.  
Morningshine looked up at the Apprentice in mild panic as she came in with Harestep but no Swallowfang.  
"Swallowfang is herb collecting." Harestep told her.  
Vixenpaw gave the Queen the raspberry leaves, wilted but she hoped they would do their job, and nodded to Harestep to lay with his mate, who gave her a grateful smile as he curled protectively around her as she kitted, Vixenpaw trying not to tremble as she tried to remember back to Bluewhisker's kitting, but, in her own panic, it was like trying to see through fog.  
Luckily, Morningshine's kits came quickly, and the two she cats were able to get the three kits safely to the Queen's side, alive and well. Three she kits.  
Vixenpaw gave the Queen the borage as Harestep left the Nursery to get some prey and water-soaked moss for his exhausted mate.  
Vixenpaw stayed with Morningshine for a while, even as Harestep came back and left again, partly to keep an eye on the Queen and her kits but also so she could calm down before she went out into camp.  
 _I actually did it. On my own. Swallowfang is going to be so proud._  
"Greetings, Morningshine. How are yo- oh."  
Vixenpaw shuffled aside as Swallowfang came in so that he could see the kits by her belly, smiling tiredly at him, but he just looked shocked.  
"Vixenpaw helped you?" He asked, almost as if he was questioning what he was seeing, and it made the calico's heart sink.  
"Yes. Don't worry, she did fine."  
"Hmm."  
Swallowfang took to examining the kits and barreling the Queen with questions, which Vixenpaw gradually tuned out of, just a little bit hurt. Eventually, Swallowfang was satisfied and the two Medicine Cats left, although Vixenpaw was too frustrated to look at him.  
"It's not that I don't trust you, Vixenpaw." Swallowfang broke the silence as they sorted what herbs he had actually gathered. "But you are ill."  
Vixenpaw scoffed internally, her tail tip lashing a little. She didn't feel ill anymore, since she had some catmint. She felt as well as Dewkit.  
"What if you had passed it on to them?"  
The calico's ears pinned back and her tail lashed violently, accidently hitting the tom.  
"However." He continued, paying no heed to her lashing tail. "You did handle the situation well. Keep it up and you'll have your full name before you know it."  
Vixenpaw flushed under her pelt at the praise, picking up the waste herbs and starting to leave the Den, but Ashear stopped her.  
"I think Icefern has gone." He gently told her.  
Vixenpaw looked to the elderly white tom with guilty eyes, the herbs falling out her jaws. Ashear was right, he wasn't breathing or moving. He had joined StarClan. And she hadn't noticed in all the excitement of Morningshine's kitting.  
Abandoning the herbs, she took Icefern by the scruff, pulling the tom cat out into the centre of camp with every last piece of strength she had.  
"Icefern!" Frostwing mewed in alarm, racing over and helping Vixenpaw before sitting by her now deceased mate's side, hollow from shock, barely reacting as Whiteblossom came over too, crying out in despair and burying her head in his fur as Woollyfur sat beside her, his head low in mourning for his mentor.  
Vixenpaw left them to mourn, returning to her discarded herb pile and taking it to the dirtplace, just as she had before.

The days up to the next Moonpool meeting lagged by as the grip of Leaf-bare loosened. Bluewhisker recovered from greencough and was allowed back into the Nursery with Dewkit, Morningshine and her kits; Rabbitkit, Honeykit and Emberkit. After his long fight, Ashear too joined StarClan, leaving Bramblenose in the Medicine Cats' Den. The quieter it got, the more relaxed the two Medicine Cats were and the more they got on.  
Vixenpaw was settling in her nest as Swallowfang came into the alcove with a small hare for them to share, dropping it in front of their nests and settling down in his own.  
"Lionpaw seems to be doing very well in her training." Swallowfang started up a conversation between bites. As much as he could with a mute cat. "Newtdapple thinks she'll be giving her her full name by the time her littermates become Warriors."  
Vixenpaw's stomach knotted with intense envy as his words settled in her mind. _Her_ littermates were half way through their Warrior training. She wasn't going to get her full name by then. When she was with the Apprentices that morning, one of the things they talked about was their Warrior names. She wondered what her full name would be.  
"I hope she doesn't give it to her too fast." The tom's voice brought her back to reality. "Medicine Cat names are meant to be earned."  
Swallowfang smiled at her as she suddenly stopped chewing her prey.  
"You'll be more than ready when you get yours." He gently reassured.  
Vixenpaw nodded her head towards ShadowClan.  
"I don't know. Mothspots is acting strange." He sighed. "When I arrived, he had some kits in his Den and he was trying to teach them some herbs. They weren't interested at all, but he kept trying."  
Swallowfang finished his share, starting to groom the fur on her back as she finished her portion.  
"I think you only had whitecough." He stated after a moment. "We must have cured it before it got worse."  
Vixenpaw glanced at him with unblinking eyes of confusion, not finishing chewing the bite she had in her mouth.  
"I don't know why it didn't get worse for you but it did for all the others." He answered her with a sigh.  
He fell silent again as she finished the hare, but his face was intense in thought, his expression not fading as he took the bones away and returned to his nest, resting his head on her back as usual and curling around her to keep her warm in the cold night.  
"I'm glad you didn't get greencough." He gently mewed. "I don't know what would have happened if you had died."  
Vixenpaw blinked, burning up under her pelt, but in a strangely pleasant way. She fell asleep happily, his pelt against hers and warm.  
But neither of them saw Bramblenose's green eyes looking at them, seeing the affection that the brown and white tom cat gave his naïve Apprentice.


	10. Chapter Nine

Leaf-bare turned into Newleaf and Newleaf into Greenleaf. Vixenpaw's littermates became Warriors, as did Petalpool's kits, and Dewkit became Dewpaw, Rosenose's Apprentice, though it wouldn't be too long before Morningshine's kits became Apprentices too. Bramblenose did eventually recover from greencough, but it weakened her greatly. It was no secret that she was going to retire when Rabbitkit, Honeykit and Emberkit became Apprentices, though it ruffled the fur of the older Warriors. As happy as Vixenpaw was for them all, she still didn't have her name yet.  
WindClan were sat alone on the Island, the full moon hanging over them, and they had been for a while. Silverbreeze had sat on a branch near Stagstar, keeping the elderly tom company while they waited, the Warriors also gathering into little groups, but what Vixenpaw did see was the starry look in Doepounce's eyes as she sat with Aspenface. They had been spending a lot of time together recently.  
Silverbreeze jumped down from the tree to greet Kinktail as ShadowClan arrived, Lizardstar taking her place on the branch. As much as Vixenpaw expected it, it hurt a little bit when Mothspots didn't sit with her and Swallowfang yet again. Instead he sat with a very pretty she cat, a dark tortoiseshell that Vixenpaw had never seen before.  
"An Apprentice...?" Swallowfang queried out loud to Vixenpaw, but the doubt in his voice was as heavy as a boulder. They just seemed too friendly with each other. Kind of like how she and Swallowfang were.  
The she cat saw them looking at her and Mothspots, giving them an overly sweet smile while the Medicine Cat turned his back to them with a huff.  
Vixenpaw's worries were only heightened when ThunderClan arrived and Boulderroot joined them. His chest heaved even as he was sat down, his legs shaking under the weight of his large frame, but he hid it so well that Swallowfang didn't seem to notice.  
 _Why is everything so wrong?_ Vixenpaw wondered in mild fear as she looked around the glade. The friendliness that existed between ThunderClan and WindClan when Gorsestar was alive was gone, instead replaced with the slightly tense civility that was always between the other Clans.  
However, when Lionpaw raced over, beaming brighter than her fur, Vixenpaw couldn't feel unhappy anymore.  
"Greetings." Newtdapple mewed brightly as Lionpaw bounded around excitedly.  
"Someone is excited for a Gathering." Boulderroot mewed in amusement.  
"I'm excited for our next Moonpool meeting!" Lionpaw replied, finally sitting down beside Vixenpaw.  
"I think she is ready for her full name." Newtdapple clarified, instantly lightening the mood of all the Medicine Cats.  
"Congratulations." Boulderroot purred as the Leaders called the start of the Gathering.  
While most of the Leaders had no particular news to share, no new Apprentices or Warriors, Lizardstar did.  
"In ShadowClan, we have a new Warrior - Duskfur!"  
"Duskfur! Duskfur! Duskfur!"  
Vixenpaw twitched at the slight uneasiness from the other Clans as they chanted for the dark tortoiseshell. Now she was sure that she had never seen Duskfur before. Despite this, Lizardstar said no more, letting Reedstar speak and finishing the Gathering.

Vixenpaw's mood sunk as the days up to the meeting passed. Swallowfang seemed to trust her less and less, barely even talking to her most of the time. She felt like he was avoiding her. She could tell by his expression when he thought no one was looking that he knew something she didn't, and that whatever it was, it was bad.  
"Swallowfang, Vixenpaw. Redstar is here." Silverbreeze herded the two Medicine Cats to Stagstar's Den, where the two Leaders were sat, evidently very tense.  
"Boulderroot is very sick." Redstar stated before they had even sat down.  
Swallowfang seemed to take it completely in his stride, not saying a word until he and Vixenpaw had settled. His eyes were hollow, his expression unreadable.  
"I know." He calmly mewed in a tone that made Vixenpaw's blood run cold.  
"He wants to retire. He feels that his days as a Medicine Cat are over."  
"I know that too."  
"But what of Vixenpaw? She hasn't got her full name yet." Stagstar interrupted before Redstar swayed the tom.  
"She's nearly there." Swallowfang weakly reassured.  
"But we need you back, Swallowfang!" Redstar bristled.  
"You both promised that Swallowfang could stay until Vixenpaw's training was complete." Stagstar mewed, completely calm but the she cat could see his fur prickling.  
"This is an emergency!" Redstar hissed.  
"And so was our situation."  
Vixenpaw was helpless as the two Leaders argued, gradually getting louder and louder. She could hear the cats in Camp getting quieter as the arguement got louder. She could feel the tension in the air spreading.  
"Could it wait until after the Moonpool meeting?" Swallowfang finally interjected in the ever increasing arguement .  
"I suppose." Redstar coarsely mewed.  
"But, what of Vixenpaw?" The elderly tom asked in mild alarm.  
"I can give her her full name then. She will be ready." Swallowfang sounded confident, but his Apprentice certainly didn't feel it.  
"Very well." Redstar unceremoniously left, leaving the three cats together in an uncomfortable silence.  
"Thank you for everything, Swallowfang." Stagstar dipped his head to the Medicine Cat before he too left his Den. She heard the tom calling a Clan meeting, but the two Medicine Cats stayed in his Den, neither willing to face any other cats right now.  
"I'm sorry, Vixenpaw." The brown and white tom finally mewed. "I should have said something. I shouldn't have kept it from you."  
Vixenpaw did feel a little hurt. She looked at him questioningly.  
"Why did I keep it from you?" He asked.  
Vixenpaw nodded, getting him to continue.  
"I didn't want you to feel rushed. I didn't want you to feel under pressure to know everything before i had to go." Swallowfang sighed before giving her a faint smile. "I tried in vain, huh?"  
Vixenpaw padded over to him, cuddling up by his side, wrapping her tail around him. He sighed, licking the top of her head.  
"I'll miss you too."

The night finally came.  
Vixenpaw's head felt so stuffed with knowledge that it could burst open but at the same time, she felt nothing. She watched Swallowfang as they walked in silence over the moors, the only noise around them being their pawsteps. His expression held so many emotions at once; joy, sadness, excitement and something Vixenpaw couldn't place.  
When they arrived at the Moonpool stream, all the other Medicine Cats were waiting. Lionpaw was the center of attention, Newtdapple gently reminding her to calm down every now and then but Boulderroot and Mothspots ignored her, smiling brightly.  
"Swallowfang! Vixenpaw!" Lionpaw radiated with energy as they approached. She didn't seem to be nervous at all, unlike Vixenpaw who had barely managed to eat her herbs because her stomach was so unsettled, let alone any prey.  
"Hello Lionpaw." Swallowfang mewed in amusement, before addressing the group as a whole. "Vixenpaw is also getting her full name tonight."  
"Congratulations!" Most of the other cats purred, the RiverClan cats brightly but Mothspots just seemed off.  
Boulderroot padded up to her, touching his nose to her head and to Swallowfang's.  
"I'm glad you are ready, Vixenpaw." He mewed gently. "And I'm happy you are coming back to us, Swallowfang."  
"What do you mean by that?" Mothspots mewed slowly and wearily.  
"This will be my last meeting. Tomorrow, i shall retire." Boulderroot announced.  
Newtdapple smiled kindly at him.  
"We all thank you for your many moons of service, Boulderroot." She mewed gently, offseting the gasp that came from Lionpaw and Mothspots. "We Medicine Cats, your Clan and StarClan alike."  
"Thank you." The large grey tom purred. Vixenpaw saw how his fur hung off his frame. She understood now that it was for the best. "But let us not waste any more time."  
He lead the other Medicine Cats down into the hollow. Vixenpaw was second to last in line, in front of Mothspots. She could feel the tension from the tom like fire through the forest.  
The Medicine Cats arranged themselves so that the two Apprentices were in the middle, next to each other and their mentors. She saw her mentor give Newtdapple a nod, letting her go first.  
"Cats of StarClan, i present you with with this Apprentice. She has trained hard to understand your ways and she will serve her Clan well for many moons." Newtdapple started the ceremony, her eyes fixed on the shimmering pool. "Lionpaw, will you uphold the ways of a Medicine Cat, standing apart from Clan rivalry, treating all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I will." Lionpaw's hazel eyes were wide in joy, the joy that the calico saw in new Warriors' eyes when they received their full name.  
"Then i will give you your true name. You will now be known as Lionleaf. StarClan honours your skill as a Medicine Cat and your optimism. You will serve RiverClan well for many moons."  
"Lionleaf! Lionleaf! Lionleaf!" The other Medicine Cats chanted as Newtdapple rested her muzzle on her Apprentice's head as the tailless she cat licked her shoulder.  
However, when the attention was turned to Swallowfang, he just grinned enigmatically, leading them to drink from the pool and start their dreams with StarClan.  
Vixenpaw looked around as she woke up in StarClan, her heart starting to pound as she realised that all of the Medicine Cats were sharing the same dream.  
"What is going on, Swallowfang?" Boulderroot questioned his Apprentice, who only continued his enigmatic smile as Watersplash appeared.  
"Greetings, my old friends." He mewed, his starry eyes glittering.  
"Watersplash!" Newtdapple mewed in surprise, surprise shared by all the other Medicine Cats.  
"Swallowfang has allowed me to perform Vixenpaw's ceremony." Watersplash explained.  
Vixenpaw's head turned to the ThunderClan tom, his grin practically shouting "surprise!" at her. The calico grinned back, grateful to him. She had missed Watersplash, as much as she refused to admit it openly.  
"Vixenpaw, I'm very sorry that I left you before you could earn your full name." Watersplash mewed sadly to her. "But, you could not have been trained by a better cat."  
"Agreed." Boulderroot nodded, his eyes glowing in pride.  
"Cats of StarClan, tonight i present us a new Medicine Cat. She has learnt our ways and it is time for her to earn her full name. With our help, she will serve her Clan for many moons." Watersplash's eyes were focused on her and her alone. "Vixenpaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a Medicine Cat, standing apart from Clan rivalries and treating all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"  
Vixenpaw nodded, feeling the presence of StarClan around her. She saw WindClan cats too, Stagstar and Woollyfur, watching proudly alongside Blossomtail and the kits she looked after.  
"Then i will give you your true name as a Medicine Cat. Vixenpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Vixensong. StarClan honours your Persistence and Spirit. We welcome you as a full Medicine Cat of WindClan."  
Vixensong licked his shoulder as he rested his muzzle on her head. Her heart swelled as the other Medicine Cats chanted her new name.  
"Vixensong! Vixensong! Vixensong!"


	11. Chapter Ten

The next morning, Vixensong slept late. Everything was finally peaceful in the Clan. There seemed to be no urgent need for her to get up.  
"Vixensong? Are you here?" Bramblenose called into the Den.  
Still half asleep, Vixensong got up, poking her head out of the alcove to see the Queen stood there. For a she cat who was usually very sweet, she looked stern.  
"Ah. You are. I need to speak to you." She mewed.  
The Medicine Cat nodded, leading her into the alcove.  
"So, your first night alone in here." Bramblenose started, seeing Swallowfang's old nest undisturbed in the alcove. Her tone made the Medicine Cat uncomfortable.  
Vixensong glanced at the nest, knowing she would have to take it out eventually as much as she couldn't bring herself to do it.  
"I fear i soon may be as lonely as you."  
Vixensong recoiled, staring at the she cat in horror. But the Queen just looked to the ground.  
"Forgive me. I didn't mean to upset you. I understand that you and Swallowfang grew very close." She awkwardly mumbled, putting Vixensong even more on edge. "You see, i think Stagstar is sick."  
The calico saw the worry in her eyes, touching her nose to the brown tabby cat's shoulder.  
"Thank you. Stagstar seems to always be out of breath, but it's suddenly got much worse." She explained. "I'm afraid he'll die the same way as Watersplash's mentor."  
 _Ryeflower?_  
"Please, come see him." Bramblenose pleaded.  
Vixensong didn't need telling twice, following her to her mate's Den. The dark tabby was laid in his nest, resting in the peace. Bramblenose was right, even as he was resting his breathing was heavy, like he had just sprinted across the moors and back. Returning with some juniper berries, she gave them to the Leader, who gave her a breathless word of thanks before he went back to sleep.  
As the two she cats left, Vixensong nodded towards Silverbreeze, getting the Queen to talk to her as she went to clear up her Den, gathering a few wilted herbs with the moss and taking it out.

The Gathering came and went, as reluctant as she was to go, Woollyfur convinced her to go, telling her that he would take care of Stagstar. She didn't feel that it was worth it. None of the other Leaders or Silverbreeze had any news to share, other than new Apprentices and Warriors. She worried about Stagstar the entire way through.  
The Medicine Cat found herself giving him juniper berries every day at least, but his condition seemed to be getting worse.  
Only through convincing by Woollyfur again did she go to Moonpool at the half moon. The other cats knew she was concerned about something, but she couldn't tell them what. All they could do was try to comfort her. But the fear was set in her mind.  
She woke up in StarClan's grounds, but her mind was elsewhere. She didn't even notice a StarClan cat come until they spoke to her.  
"You are worried about Stagstar, yes?"  
Vixensong looked up, relieved to see Ryeflower there. She nodded and Ryeflower sighed.  
"I am afraid there is nothing that can be done to cure him." She stated.  
Vixensong's jaw hung open in shock.  
 _I'm a Medicine Cat! I'm supposed to be able to cure him!_  
"We cannot cure everything, Vixensong." Ryeflower mewed as if she had read the calico's mind. "I would have cured myself if i could, then perhaps Watersplash would have been different."  
Vixensong blinked, looking at the StarClan cat, wondering what she had meant, but the tan and brown cat was already gone. She had some time to think about her words before the dream ended.  
However, when she returned to camp, she didn't expect Silverbreeze to be waiting for her.  
"Did StarClan speak to you about Stagstar?" She asked once they were sat inside Vixensong's Den.  
Vixensong just nodded. She didn't particularly like Silverbreeze, the tabby had always treated her weirdly, but Medicine Cats stood apart from the Clans.  
"Will he recover?"  
The Medicine Cat shrugged awkwardly at the question, letting the Deputy go silent.  
"W-What should we do?" She shakily asked.  
Again, all she could do was shrug. She didn't know what they could do.  
Silverbreeze eventually left, leaving Vixensong to sleep as much as she could. She wanted to save Stagstar. She _needed_ to.

"ThunderClan attack on the border!"  
Vixensong woke up with a jolt as Silverbreeze raced into the Camp, yowling at the top of her lungs, gathering all the Warriors she could reasonably take and leaving again.  
Tripping over her own paws, Vixensong wrapped her tail up in all the cobwebs she had, filling her jaws as full of goldenrod and raspberry leaves as she could before heading after the patrol.  
"Dewpaw, help Vixensong with her herbs." Rosenose told her Apprentice, who thankfully immediately took some of the herbs from her without any protest. Vixensong knew that the other Apprentices would have.  
However, they had barely made it half way there when Nighttail raced up, his yellow eyes wide in panic and fear despite the cut along his hip, although it had somewhat been covered in cobwebs.  
"Vixensong! Please, help Goldenfur!" He mewed emotionally, odd for her calmest littermate.  
Vixensong nodded, her heart pounding rapidly at his terrified tone, increasing her pace beyond what she was thought was possible to the border, where the reason for Nighttail's terror became apparent.  
Just on the WindClan side of the river, the patrol that had been attacked were being helped by the cats that Silverbreeze had brought with her. Most of them, like Nighttail, had sustained only minor cuts that would heal and possibly scar over, but the golden she cat was laid on the ground, more wound than cat. It took a moment for Vixensong to realise that the she cat was still alive, her body barely moving.  
"Some Apprentice just kept shredding and shredding and shredding." Nighttail explained as Vixensong pressed cobwebs on her wounds, occasionally stopping to treat another wound on a different Warrior.  
"Will she survive?" Nighttail asked fawning over the golden she cat and bugging Vixensong at every moment she had, which quickly got on the calico's nerves, soon sending him away to find some more cobwebs just to get him out her fur. Most of the cats had gone back to camp when he returned, his paw lost in the mass of cobwebs he had found. Waspflight too had stayed, watching on in concern for his littermate instead and letting the Medicine Cat do her work.  
Her ears pricked when she heard cats approaching on the other side of the river, a ThunderClan patrol that largely ignored them, but it made Vixensong realise just how long they had been out there.  
"Should we take her back to camp?" The yellow tabby asked, his eyes set on her as she finally backed away.  
Vixensong nodded her agreement, watching the two toms shoulder Goldenfur up and manage to carry her back to camp, gently setting her down in the Medicine Cat's Den, leaving Vixensong in peace to continue treating the Warrior, though Nighttail didn't stay away long.  
"Can i ask you something, Vixensong?" He awkwardly mewed from where he was sat on the other side of Goldenfur.  
Vixensong nodded, fighting back annoyance but not looking at him.  
"Will she still be able to have kits?"  
The question took the Medicine Cat off guard, looking at him with wide eyes.  
"She's always wanted kits." Nighttail quickly explained. "We both have. We'd be devastated if she couldn't have any now."  
Vixensong couldn't tell him that Goldenfur could probably hear what he was saying, but she nodded slowly, making her uncertainty clear to him. The cuts on her undersides didn't seem as bad as she first suspected, though she thought that Goldenfur would need to retire.  
"Thank you, Vixensong. Please, save her."  
With that, Nighttail finally left the Den properly, being assigned to a hunting patrol with Silverbreeze. However, they hung around, seemingly waiting. Vixensong watched from the entrance to her Den.  
"Where is Foxstrike?" Silverbreeze began asking the cats around camp, padding around every Den to try and find the red she cat. In the end, she joined the patrol herself.  
This wasn't the first time the she cat had gone missing recently. Vixensong's mind traced back to the conversation they had when she was an Apprentice. She hoped her gut instinct was wrong.

A few days later, Vixensong was sat in Stagstar's Den, checking up on the old tom, his breathing was rapid and shallow and his legs were swelling, but it wasn't responding to her herbs and it was exhausting the calico.  
Bramblenose was in there with her, licking her mate's chest to try and keep his blood flowing, like a kit with a chill. The Medicine Cat was running out of ideas, and the Elder was more aware of this than she knew.  
Frustrated at another failure and barely able to stay awake, Vixensong went to her Den, gathering up some juniper berries and small black seeds to give to the Leader, like she had done so many times recently, leaving some for Bramblenose to give him in case he woke up again, even though she could tell that the Elder was taking some herself.  
After the Leader had taken them, the two she cats left him to sleep.  
"Do you think he should retire?" Bramblenose gently asked Vixensong, who nodded back to her.  
"How is he?" Silverbreeze asked suddenly, barging in on the conversation.  
"Not well." Bramblenose mewed. "I think StarClan is calling him."  
Both the Deputy and the Medicine Cat looked at her in shock and she gave an uneasy smile back.  
"He knows it too." She quietly added, touching her nose to the silver tabby's head. "I think you should be prepared."  
The Deputy only nodded, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to form words before she turned, padding out of camp. Vixensong presumed she was going to where Owlfeather was buried. The two remaining she cats sat together in the silent camp in a somewhat companionable silence of worry. Ryeflower's words rung in Vixensong's ears.  
 _"We cannot cure everything, Vixensong."_  
The Medicine Cat wordlessly padded back to her Den, stopping momentarily to check on Goldenfur who had eaten the herbs that Vixensong had left her and was now asleep again. For once, Nighttail wasn't there, fretting and hounding the Medicine Cat. She laid in her own nest, telling herself she was just going to rest for a moment before going to treat Frostwing's pawpad, but she couldn't settle. Her fur prickled and just wouldn't lay flat.  
Giving up, she got up, heading towards the herb store. However, her eyes fell on her pile of poppy seeds.  
 _Maybe I don't need to find more yet._  
Just as she bent down to pick up the coltsfoot, she noticed that her pile of foxglove seeds seemed smaller than before. It took a few moments for the realisation to sink into her sleep deprived mind.  
 _Oh StarClan, no!_  
Nearly knocking over the returning Deputy, Vixensong ran to the Leader's Den, her paws barely touching the ground as she entered.  
But it was already too late.  
Stagstar was lifeless in his nest, peaceful and calm. A small black seed that he hadn't eaten was by his front paws, which Vixensong rolled over to her. It was a foxglove seed.  
"Vixensong? Why were you in such a ru- oh." Silverbreeze entered the Den behind the Medicine Cat, who quickly hid the seed under her paw as she moved aside.  
"Is he...?" The silver tabby's strange green eyes widened as she saw the tom laid there. "T-Those weren't poppy seeds, were they?"  
Vixensong didn't give her an answer, guilt overwhelming her, letting the Deputy take him out into camp as patrols returned, cries of despair and shock rising up like leaves in a breeze.  
Vixensong watched it all from the Leader's Den. She had murdered a cat.


	12. Chapter Eleven

"Silverstar! Silverstar! Silverstar!"  
The Clan chanted her name as the silver tabby took her place on Tallrock barely moments after Stagstar's death had been revealed. Vixensong dutifully took her place among the Clan cats as she began to speak.  
"I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. Nettleclaw will be the Deputy of WindClan from this moment on."  
"Nettleclaw! Nettleclaw! Nettleclaw!"  
As joyous as the Clan was, Vixensong felt uneasy as she looked up at Silverstar.  
As soon as the meeting was over, Silverstar promptly went over to her.  
"When do I go to Moonpool for my nine lives?" She asked, hiding her excitement behind an aura of self importance.  
The Medicine Cat pointed her nose towards the sun, tracing it's path below the horizon, indicating that they would leave in the evening when the sun had set. While she wasn't entirely satisfied with the answer, Silverstar nodded, leaving the Medicine Cat to talk to her new Deputy.

When evening finally came, Vixensong went to Silverstar's Den to give her some travelling herbs, only to find Nettleclaw and the Senior Warriors with her.  
"Don't leave, Vixensong." Silverstar mewed as she tried to leave the meeting she disturbed. "You should know what is going to happen too."  
Wearily, she sat down among the group, barely listening as they discussed how they could maintain the peace between WindClan and ThunderClan now that Stagstar had also died. Instead, her heart ached in a strange way as she thought about Swallowfang.  
Only when Vixensong gave the new Leader a discrete and gentle reminder of how late it was getting did Silverstar finally end the discussion, eat her herbs and leave with the Medicine Cat for Moonpool.  
Silverstar stayed silent as they walked across the moors, silverpelt shining calmly above them. Her eyes traced it across the sky as they walked, but the Medicine Cat could see her eyes shining with worry.  
 _StarClan, please guide Silverstar and let her be the Leader WindClan needs._  
Silverstar stopped just before they were about to go into the hollow.  
"Vixensong, I don't think I'm ready for this." She mewed, her voice cracking as she stared into the hollow.  
The calico touched her tail tip to the silver tabby's shoulder, nodding her encouragement and nudging her, trying to convey a sense of urgency to the new Leader, who eventually made her way down to Moonpool, following Vixensong's lead as she drank from the pool and laid down on the beach.  
When they woke up, Vixensong saw that Silverstar was frozen in place for a moment, intense pain in her gaze before she moved again, meeting the eyes of the Medicine Cat and giving her a nod to tell her that she was fine.  
"Welcome, Silverbreeze." A voice echoed out around them, seeming to belong to the entirety of StarClan. "Are you ready to receive your nine lives?"  
"Yes." Silverstar stood up taller, the confident face coming back. "I am."  
The first cat to come forward was a small grey tom cat that Vixensong instantly recognised even though he had lost his patchy fur. Hailshade's hazel eyes always set him apart. He touched his nose to the top of Silverstar's head and the calico saw her flinch a little as he spoke.  
"With this life I give you trust in others. Use it well to care for your Clan and yourself. Trust the cats in your Clan as they trust in you."  
The next cat to come forward was a brown tom cat with white toes and tail tip and covered head to tail in gold and white speckles. His sharp yellow eyes looked at the new Leader with kindness as he touched his nose to the top of her head.  
"With this life I give you clear judgement of character. Use it to see the true nature of cats, kind and harmful alike."  
No sooner had that tom cat left did Owlfeather step forward, greeting Silverstar with all the affection of mates, which she returned happily.  
"WindClan could not be in better paws." He mewed, rubbing his cheek against hers before he touched her head. "With this life I give you second chances. Use it well on those who have changed for the better."  
Next was a young grey tom who didn't seem much older than Dewpaw. Silverstar's eyes lit up when she saw him.  
"Greypaw! I'm so sorry you never got to be the Warrior you should have been." She mewed, licking the top of his head as if he was just a kit.  
"It was not my destiny." The young tom mewed, moving away so he could touch her head, though she had to bend down. "This, however, is yours. With this life I give you acceptance of destiny. Use it well to save energy in accepting that there are just some things you cannot change, no matter how much you want to."  
The pain of each new life was visibly starting to get to the new Leader, as much the words of the grey tom seemed to spook her and how much she tried to hide it.  
Vixensong's eyes glittered as Watersplash was the next to come forward, the blue tom giving her a reassuring smile before he turned to Silverstar, touching his nose to the top of her head.  
"With this life I give you mercy. Use it well on the cats who deserve it, inside and outside your Clan."  
Vixensong saw Silverstar grit her teeth as Watersplash walked away, her muscles tense as the pain faded. A very light brown tabby she cat padded forward next, her stripes as thin as the shadow of a blade of grass.  
"Don't worry, my sweet, I know you'll make a fine Leader." She mewed. "With this life I give you faith in yourself. Use it well to lead your Clan with the same trust in your decisions that those in your care do."  
This time, Silverstar wasn't in pain at all. In fact, she looked like it was much more pleasant, much to the relief of the Medicine Cat.  
Willowmist was the next cat to come forward, smiling brightly at the silver tabby.  
"Remember all my lessons to you, Silverbreeze, most importantly thinking ahead." She mewed, touching her head. "With this life I give you forethought. Use it well to see ahead and understand how your actions will affect the future."  
Silverstar crumbled this time under the pain of the life and Vixensong leapt up to go to her side, being stopped by a familiar tortoiseshell.  
"She is strong, Vixensong. Have no fear." Blossomtail gently mewed to her before she stood before Silverstar. "It has been a long time, my Apprentice."  
"Blossomtail! It has. Thank you for everything." Silverstar replied as Blossomtail touched her nose to her head.  
"With this life I give you perseverance. Use it well in difficult times for what is right, no matter how hard it seems."  
It didn't come as a surprise to the Medicine Cat who the last cat to give Silverstar a life was. Stagstar raised his former Deputy's head up as she recovered from the shock of Blossomtail's life.  
"Welcome, my loyal Deputy. Do not be afraid of what is to come, we are here to support you as are all the living cats of WindClan." He told her with a wise smile. "With this life I give you hope. Even in the darkest times, hope will guide you through."  
Silverstar gritted her teeth and her muscles tensed as the last ripple of pain went through her. She took longer to recover this time, scaring the Medicine Cat slightly until Stagstar began to speak again.  
"I hail you by your new name, Silverstar, for your old life is no more and you have received the nine lives of a Leader. StarClan grants you guardianship of WindClan. Defend it well; care for young and old, honour your ancestors, the traditions of the Warrior Code and live each life with dignity and pride."  
"Silverstar! Silverstar! Silverstar!"  
Vixensong looked around them as all of StarClan seemed to chant her name. Along with the cats who had given her lives, she saw Bluewhisker's kits, Ryeflower, Icefern, Ashear, Snowfang and many more cats she didn't recognise. She heard Silverstar speak to StarClan, but she wasn't listening. Instead, she was trying to get Stagstar's attention to see if he knew that she didn't mean to give him that foxglove seed and if he forgave her, but he was focused solely on Silverstar, Vixensong's hopes sinking as the dream began to end.  
However, even as everything around them faded, Stagstar's spirit stayed as visible as it had been, but his expression shifted from mentorly kindness to grimness. He spoke a single sentence.  
"Beware one who was not granted what they sought."  
Before either of the living cats could reply, the dream ended abruptly.  
When the Medicine Cat woke up, she immediately turned to Silverstar who looked visibly shaken.  
"L-Let's go back to camp." She finally managed to stutter after a moment of silence.  
Vixensong only nodded, falling into place beside her as they walked, but Vixensong felt just as shocked as Silverstar did. As much as she had grown to tolerate the life of a Medicine Cat, she was extremely jealous of the Warriors.  
She saw Silverstar glance at her sideways a few times, which made the Medicine Cat fearful.  
 _Does that prophecy mean she needs to beware of me?_  
As much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, Vixensong knew that was what Silverstar was thinking.

Vixensong's fears only grew as the days passed and it was clear that Silverstar was not only avoiding her but also extremely distracted, as much as Nettleclaw tried to soothe her.  
However, Stagstar had come to her in her latest Moonpool dream and reassured her that he did not blame her for his death. His words eerily echoed Ryeflower's in the Medicine Cat's mind.  
Goldenfur had also woken up, finally, meaning that Nighttail fretted less over her and was spending much less time in her fur.  
Vixensong was sat in her Den with the amber eyed Warrior getting her to do some stretching exercises with her hind legs when Nettleclaw strode in, full of self importance as always.  
"Silverstar wants to see you in her Den." He told her as if he was talking to an Apprentice.  
Vixensong nodded, turning back to Goldenfur to get her to stretch her most scarred leg out.  
"Now." The grey tom demanded.  
Recoiling very slightly, Vixensong followed him to Silverstar's Den, where the tabby was sat with weary concern on her face.  
She only spoke when Nettleclaw left.  
"In light of Stagstar's prophecy," Silverstar mewed, sounding much more firm than before she became Leader, "I want you to train an Apprentice as soon as you can. And then retire. Or become a Warrior. Or something. Just get away from herbs."  
Vixensong stared at her in horror, but she could tell that this wasn't a decision the Leader took lightly.  
"Don't look at me like that, Vixensong." She grumbled, turning her head away. "It's for the good of the Clan."  
Vixensong bristled. She _wasn't_ a danger to the Clan. She wasn't going to take it. She was going to prove that that prophecy wasn't about her.  
"Could you take Goldenfur as an Apprentice?" Silverstar looked back at her, sighing when she shook her head very firmly. "Very well."  
Angry, Vixensong turned and stalked out of the Den, showing the Leader that she wasn't going to make this easy for her. She was acutely aware that other cats were looking at her as she returned to her Den, even Goldenfur was spooked by the expression on her face.  
"What happened?" She asked with wide amber eyes.  
Vixensong just ignored the question, getting the she cat to stretch her leg like she had left her to do.


	13. Chapter Twelve

That evening it was warmer than usual for the start of Leaf-fall and many cats rested together in camp, sharing prey and tongues. Even Goldenfur had been allowed out the Medicine Cat Den, under the strict watch of Nighttail, and was sharing prey with Waspflight beside the Warriors' Den while the Apprentices gave the Elders some prey and changed their bedding. The rest of her littermates were together as well, though Vixensong was too far away to hear what they were saying, soon joined by Cherryfang and Yellowclaw.  
Movement caught the Medicine Cat's eye as Silverstar causally approached her as if their earlier meeting hadn't happened, sitting down beside her as if they were close, making the calico twitch in mild irritation.  
"How is Goldenfur doing?" Silverstar asked, watching the amber eyed she cat as she relaxed with her remaining littermate.  
Vixensong nodded with a small smile. The Warrior was doing far better than she had expected given how many wounds she had, but she was still young. However, she had lost most of her fur, the remaining bits standing out as much as trees would if they grew on the moors.  
"Can she be a Warrior again?"  
Vixensong nodded slowly and cautiously. It wasn't going to be as quick as the Leader would have liked, if at all.  
"Now?"  
The Medicine Cat shook her head. Goldenfur still struggled to move with all the scars she had.  
"Um, pardon me, Silverstar." Nighttail quickly spoke up, making both of the she cats jump. Neither of them knew he was there. "I-I was wondering about Goldenfur's name."  
"What about it?" Silverstar asked with a note of curiosity.  
"W-Well, you see, she always had a lot of pride in her fur, being the only cat in the Clan with gold fur." Nighttail shakily explained. "But, I don't think that name fits her anymore. Could you change it?"  
"It must be possible." Silverstar eventually replied. "But, I don't know how."  
"Could you ask Lizardstar? Kinktail must have had his name changed."  
"I'll ask him at the next Gathering."  
"Thank you, Silverstar." Nighttail dipped his head respectfully to her, but he beamed as brightly as the sun as he went to join his former mentor and her littermate.  
Vixensong cast her gaze back out into camp as Silverstar was called over by her Deputy.

The calico peaked the top of the Camp hollow, her jaws stuffed with sorrel and dock leaves to the point where she was struggling to breathe, and had to do a second take when she saw ThunderClan cats in the Camp with Mistspeckle, Brownfoot and Dewpaw as Rosenose padded over to them with Silverstar. Unlike the other Apprentices, Dewpaw wasn't openly hostile towards them.  
Even though Silverstar got to them first, Swallowfang caught Vixensong's attention easily. The Medicine Cat barely put her herbs in the store before going to see why he, the red tortoiseshell and the dark gold Apprentice were there.  
"Do you have any goldenrod we could have?" Swallowfang asked her, grinning in relief when she nodded. "We honestly need all we can get."  
Vixensong simply lead them to her herb store, knowing the brown and white tom was prone to exaggeration but still being slightly concerned as to why he brought two other cats with him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other ThunderClan cats notice the dozing Goldenfur, pulling their attention away from the herbs.  
"Is that...?" The tortoiseshell spoke very quietly, her voice high in emotion.  
"Probably. Shouldn't have gotten in my way." The young tom replied haughtily.  
"Thornpaw!"  
"I knew she shouldn't have been given an Apprentice yet." Swallowfang quietly grumbled to no one in particular, before he looked at the herb pile. "Looks fresh. Did you pick it this morning?"  
Vixensong looked at him as she nodded her reply. Swallowfang had a hidden look in his eyes, just like he had when he knew that Boulderroot was going to retire.  
"Can we have all of it?" He asked, looking back to her. When she hesitated he added in a hushed tone, "You know I wouldn't ask this much of you if I could find another way."  
Wearily, the Medicine Cat stepped aside to let Swallowfang and the two Warriors take all the goldenrod they could carry.  
"Thank you, Vixensong. You're a literal life saver." Swallowfang mewed with a joking tone as he picked up what he could take, joining the two Warriors outside and being taken away with them. She saw Nighttail shoot the Apprentice a gaze of icicles as they left, held back only by Mistspeckle, stalking over to the Medicine Cat's Den.  
"I should shred that Apprentice like he shredded Goldenfur!" He hissed to her as if she hadn't figured it out already.  
Vixensong calmly shook her head to him, nodding back to the golden she cat who was looking at them with sleepy amber eyes and nudging him towards her. She left them together to sort out the herbs she brought back, but her mind ached with fresh worries about Swallowfang.

When the Gathering came, Silverstar was very keen to go as soon as she could. Among the cats that she had brought along was Goldenfur, which Vixensong disagreed with very strongly. She knew that Goldenfur would receive much unwanted attention, even if Nighttail and Waspflight had come too.  
Fortunately for Silverstar, only ShadowClan was there so she was able to go straight to Lizardstar and Vixensong could stay with Goldenfur and the tom cats, protecting her as best she could from the stares of the ShadowClan cats, including Mothspots. She saw the Leaders glance towards the amber eyed Warrior during their conversation. She hoped that Lizardstar would help.  
It felt like forever before RiverClan arrived, but only Newtdapple was among them. Excusing herself, she went to sit with the elderly Medicine Cat.  
"Hello Vixensong." Newtdapple smiled kindly to her, but there was a strain in her voice.  
Vixensong just tilted her head questioningly at the she cat.  
"Lionleaf stayed behind to help one of our Queens. She started kitting just as we left." She explained with a light chuckle, but her tone suddenly turned serious. "While we're talking about Queens, when will she move into the Nursery? I can't imagine it will be for some time."  
Vixensong followed her gaze, her mouth going dry from horror when she saw who Newtdapple was referring too. Sat with Harrierheart, her siblings and a group of younger Warriors was Foxstrike. The rebellious she cat saw the two she cats looking at her and turned away from them. While her expression stayed flat, Vixensong saw the guilt and fear in her eyes.  
"Who is the father?" The RiverClan cat asked.  
Vixensong didn't even reply. She had a horrible feeling that she knew exactly who it was and that the Warrior Code was being broken right before her eyes.  
"Oh StarClan..."  
The calico's attention was immediately drawn to the arriving ThunderClan cats, most of which were covered in reasonably fresh wounds that Vixensong soon recognised as fox wounds. Even Swallowfang had them as he padded up, as cheery as usual.  
"What happened to you?" Newtdapple asked with wide eyes as they looked over all the cats. There were some that Vixensong wouldn't have let come if it was her choice, which made her worry about who was left at their camp.  
"Fox attack." Swallowfang quickly explained as Redstar called the start of the Gathering. Both toms had cobwebs in their ears. It was clear now why he had wanted all the goldenrod.  
"Unfortunately, ThunderClan has been subject to extensive fox attacks on our camp." Redstar spoke before any of the others could. "While we have managed to chase them away, I believe they now pose a serious danger to us all."  
Cries of horror and fear rose up from the gathered cats, but Vixensong was drawn to Redstar. He didn't seem as sorrowful about sharing this news as she thought he should have.  
"Silence!" Lizardstar yowled out, his eyes flashing with thunder as all the cats became silent, but settling back down to his usual calmness. "This is troubling, Redstar. Which way did they go?"  
"They scattered when we drove them away." Redstar gently replied, his ears folding back. "I'm sorry, but I don't know."  
"I think we all should go back to our camps and prepare." Reedstar spoke up, worry shining in his eyes.  
"Yes, but, I do not feel that we should go this alone." Silverstar added. "You must have lost Warriors, Redstar. We can't allow our Clans to be wiped out. It's not long now until Leaf-bare."  
"Then what do you propose, Silverstar?" Redstar asked.  
Silverstar seemed to shrink momentarily, all the eyes of all the cats on her. Vixensong gave her a reassuring nod.  
"At least the Leaders and Medicine Cats of each Clan should meet here at the same time in one sunrise time and discuss this further." She replied confidently, "As Reedstar says, we must be prepared."  
"Very well." Lizardstar stood up, preparing to jump off the tree. "We will meet here tomorrow night. May StarClan keep us all safe until then."  
No more words were said between any of the Clans as they each left for their camps.

The next morning, Vixensong made herself get up for Nettleclaw assigning patrols. She needed to stop Foxstrike before she went out.  
The calico had to fight her way through the crowd of cats to get to the red she cat, but eventually managed to get her aside, even under the scathing gaze of the Deputy.  
"Vixensong, what is it?" Foxstrike mewed in mild irritation.  
Firmly, Vixensong pointed her nose to Foxstrike's belly and then to the Nursery.  
"Y-You know?" Foxstrike whispered in horror.  
Vixensong nodded. She wasn't too far along, as Newtdapple had said she wouldn't be moving into the Nursery any time soon, but she wasn't far away from showing to the untrained eye.  
"I'm scared, Vixensong." She whispered. "I don't think the Clan will accept them."  
The calico firmly shook her head, nudging her towards Nettleclaw. Eventually she gave in, telling Nettleclaw that she was pregnant. He let her out on the patrol, but warned that it would be her last.  
Only when everything was calm again did Nettleclaw approach Vixensong.  
"Silverstar wants you to learn how to fight like a Warrior." He stated. "And she wants me to teach you."  
Vixensong hid her burning displeasure with a single nod to him.  
 _Why him of all cats?_ She thought grumpily as he lead her out of Camp and into the territory towards the training area, where Rosenose and Dewpaw were waiting.  
This was going to be a long day.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Frustrated and exhausted, Vixensong was thankful when Nettleclaw let her go back to her true duties. As it was getting colder, the only thing on her mind was the possibility of a greencough epidemic, just like last Leaf-bare. She and Swallowfang had managed to plant a few catmint plants by the Moonpool river while he was in WindClan which had thankfully flourished and were now mature enough to have leaves taken.  
Despite everything going on, Vixensong felt strangely at peace. This training made her feel more like a Warrior, and, as much as it frustrated her, she enjoyed it. Yet, strangely, whenever she thought about leaving the Medicine Cat life, she couldn't bring herself to even consider actually doing it.  
The sun was beginning to set as she finally found the stalks. The only sounds around her were the rushing of the stream as she jumped over it and pawsteps.  
But not all the pawsteps were hers.  
She was just bending down to take some of the leaves when she became very aware that she wasn't alone. Not one but three sets of yellow eyes watched her, accompanied by snarling sounds as she looked back at them.  
Her fur fluffed up as the three creatures emerged from the shadows, their long fangs bared at her as they approached, snapping at her as they got close, forcing her in between them all and circling her, waiting for the opportunity to strike.  
 _I'm going to StarClan!_  
Finally, one launched itself at her, claws outstretched and jaws wide. Vixensong barely managed to dodge it's teeth, but it's claws scratched along her left hip, missing her tail by a whisker. The scent of her fear and the blood of her wound only pushed the creatures on, each launching at her in a strangely coordinated way. She used her small size to evade them, but they managed to keep her trapped between them.  
She dodged them for as long as she could, but eventually she grew too tired to keep going.  
Collapsing to the ground, the creatures knew they'd won and set in, one going right for her neck.  
"Stop that! Get away from her!"  
Vixensong looked on in amazement as the creatures backed away just at the sound of Swallowfang's voice like scolded Kits.  
"Get back to camp the lot of you!" He hissed, standing protective of her until the bushy tails of the creatures were long gone.  
Vixensong managed to push her front half up on her front paws to watch them, but Swallowfang pushed her shoulders back down when he turned to her.  
"Oh Vixensong, I'm so sorry that those foxes hurt you!" He mewed, quickly looking her wound over. "At least it isn't deep."  
The she cat, however, looked at him in shock.  
 _Those were foxes?!_  
She barely recognised them! They were much bigger than foxes she had seen before and seemed to be much more intelligent too.  
Swallowfang stopped fretting when he saw the look on her face, his look of shear fear turning into quiet defeat.  
"Well, I guess I can't hide it any longer." He murmured. "I'll take you back to Camp."  
He let her lean against him as they slowly made their way back to ThunderClan's Camp. As they got close, the smell of fox grew overwhelming as did the sense of hostility, and the latter only increased as all the ThunderClan cats in camp saw her.  
"Swallowfang! What are you doing?" Redstar boomed as he stalked over to them.  
"Leaftalon, Robinfoot and Berryfur attacked her by the Moonpool stream." Swallowfang calmly replied. "I'm sorry, but neither me nor Vixensong will go to the meeting tonight. You can tell Silverstar that she'll be back next sunrise once her wound has been treated."  
"Doesn't look like I have a choice." Redstar hissed coarsely, casting a glare of contempt at Vixensong. "You're lucky you can't tell anyone anything."  
Vixensong shrunk a little under his gaze, watching him as he left before being guided to the Medicine Cat's Den.  
As Swallowfang put a poultice on her wounds, she saw a new Den had been constructed beside the Warriors' Den and that there were foxes entering and leaving it, just like any Warrior would.  
"I need to tell you the truth, Vixensong." Swallowfang mewed, his voice barely audible. "We've been training foxes like Warriors for generations, but, Redstar has taken it to a whole new height. He wants to take over the territories using them to wipe out the other Clans. He'll destroy that meeting in any way he can. He no longer follows the Warrior Code and the rest of the Clan are following in his pawsteps."  
Terrified, Vixensong could only listen as he spoke, watching foxes and cats and ThunderClan Camp relax together like it was nothing.  
"Don't worry, they won't hurt you now." Swallowfang added, giving her a poppy seed and letting her fall asleep.

Vixensong woke up the next morning with a group of three foxes stood awkwardly in the Den entrance.  
Instinct taking over her mind, the calico scrambled to the back of the Den, bumping into the newly woken Swallowfang.  
"What are you three doing? You scared the life out of her!" Swallowfang gently scolded the three foxes, who looked even more guilty than before.  
"We apologise." One said, the only female in the group.  
"We sorry, Vixensong." Another added, a solid coloured male.  
"We thought you were enemy. We see now you are ally." The third told her. He had a white patch on his chest and was the one who had cut her hip. "May your wound heal fast."  
"She accepts your apology." Swallowfang mewed, "Now, go and see Birchbranch. He'll find you something to do."  
The WindClan cat was stunned as the foxes left, looking at the tom with wide eyes, but he looked back with strangely hollow ones.  
"You need to go back to WindClan." He told her, emotionless. "I'll take you back."  
Disappointed, Vixensong followed him out of Camp, even though she was still limping slightly.  
As soon as they made it over the border, Swallowfang licked the top of her head as she buried her head into his fur.  
"I wish you could stay longer too." He whispered. "I wish you could stay _permanently_ , but, we're from different Clans."  
Nodding sadly, she licked his shoulder before they moved on, eventually running into a WindClan patrol which included Nighttail.  
"Vixensong! You missed it!" Nighttail didn't give the Medicine Cat a chance to say goodbye to Swallowfang before she was swept away to camp. "Silverstar did it! Goldenfur had her name changed! She's Ambereyes now! And she'll be a Warrior again!"  
Vixensong smiled as her littermate rambled, purring brightly all the way back. She felt at home again.  
"Vixensong! Thank StarClan you're safe!" Whiteblossom mewed as the Medicine Cat returned to Camp, racing over to her with Woollyfur and covering her in licks.  
"Silverstar said you had been attacked by foxes." Woollyfur added. "We're so happy to see you're not hurt too badly."  
Vixensong felt like she could burst with joy as her parents fussed over her. Even when Nettleclaw broke them up, she was still shining.  
"Go on, rest up, Vixensong. We'll continue your training when you're better." He nodded to her, oddly pleasant but the Medicine Cat thought nothing of it as she went back to her Den, sitting with the newly renamed Ambereyes and letting her enthuse about being a Warrior again.

On the day of the Moonpool meeting, Vixensong saw Foxstrike being scolded by Nettleclaw again and ended up getting dragged into the conversation herself.  
"Vixensong, should Foxstrike be in the Nursery yet?" He asked in a strained voice.  
The Medicine Cat had to pause to think. While Foxstrike was starting to show, she wasn't getting immobile yet. Much to Nettleclaw's annoyance, she shook her head.  
"In the next quarter moon?" He suggested.  
Vixensong replied with a much slower shake of her head.  
"The next half moon?" The Deputy looked fed up, breathing a silent sigh of relief when Vixensong finally agreed with him.  
"Wait, who will finish Honeypaw's training?" The red she cat looked concerned.  
"That's up to Silverstar." Nettleclaw shrugged the question off. "She'll probably decide in a few days. I don't think she's recovered from the meeting yet."  
The Medicine Cat frowned. Silverstar had told her the meeting had gone perfectly well and that they had agreed on a temporary alliance. However, she brushed it off as Doepounce caught her attention.  
"Vixensong, I keep feeling sick and very tired. What's wrong with me?" The she cat was extremely distressed, but her expression rose when she saw her littermate smiling. "What? What is it?"  
Vixensong nodded towards the Nursery, a single act that made the red she cat light up like the sun.  
"I'm expecting kits?!" Her eyes were wide in joy, even more so when Vixensong nodded her agreement. "Oh thank you, Vixensong, thank you!"  
The Medicine Cat watched with a grin as Doepounce raced over to Aspenface, barely able to hold back the news.  
But none of them saw Foxstrike look on, her eyes full of envy.

Her mood still high after telling Doepounce she was expecting kits, Vixensong was the first to the meeting point for the Moonpool meeting. She was examining her healing wounds when Swallowfang strode up.  
"Looks like it's healing well." He mewed, examining it himself but laughing when Vixensong playfully licked his ear. "You're in a good mood I see."  
Vixensong nodded with a bright grin as he gently swiped at her ears.  
"Good news in the Clan?" He asked, still grinning.  
Vixensong licked her belly as if she was pregnant, making the ThunderClan cat purr.  
"Kits are good news to all of us."  
"They'll be just in time for Newleaf." Lionleaf added brightly as the RiverClan cats arrived with a tense Mothspots in tow. Her gait had improved significantly over the last moon.  
"Maybe you'll find an Apprentice." Mothspots added. Although Vixensong thought it was a cruel comment, the ShadowClan cat was smiling. "I might have."  
"That's wonderful, Mothspots!" Newtdapple purred. "Tell us more."  
Mothspots nervously told Newtdapple about one of the kits who was showing an interest in his herbs as they made their way down to the Moonpool, only becoming quiet when they laid beside the pool and started their dreams.

Vixensong opened her eyes in StarClan grounds as usual, sitting up and waiting to see who would greet her that night.  
She turned her head towards the forest as a dark brown she cat padded towards her. The calico didn't recognise this cat, who smelt of ThunderClan.  
"Greetings, Vixensong. I hope you do not mind me coming to you tonight?" She asked, her voice smooth yet empty of emotion.  
The Medicine Cat shook her head slowly, watching her as she sat down awkwardly.  
"Forgive me, I was the mentor of the mentor of your crush." Her eyes sparkled in joy as Vixensong flushed under her fur, licking her chest in embarrassment. "My name is Mo-"  
"Twistedfoot! What are you doing?" Boulderroot's voice was heard only heartbeats before he appeared, scowling fiercely and looming over his mentor, who looked equally pleased to see him.  
"Please, do not call me that. I do not have that injury anymore." She hissed lowly, but otherwise not getting angry or even twitching. "My name is Mossblossom."  
"Something like that." The grey tom grumbled as Twistedfoot turned back to Vixensong.  
"Please, Vixensong." Emotion returned to the she cat, full of sorrow and regret. "I wish I could fix my mistake, but, I cannot. But, your Silverstar, she knows more than you think. I understand that you do not get along very well, but you must support her, even if it is only indirectly."  
Her words were the last thing that the calico cat heard before the dream was abruptly cut off.

The WindClan cat woke up with a start, her breathing heavy and on edge.  
Shakily, she rose to her paws, calming herself down with deep breaths. The other Medicine Cats seemed to be asleep, apart from Mothspots who was grooming his side. She couldn't leave now.  
But one thought echoed in her mind, which upset her and gave her a strange relief at the same time.  
 _StarClan doesn't want me as a Medicine Cat anymore._


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Leaf-bare came and went with no sign of the foxes, as if they had just disappeared into thin air, or the greencough that the Medicine Cats feared. While most cats seemed to settle and drop their guard, Vixensong remained very alert, her heart racing when any cat came into Camp, terrified of loosing lives. She wasn't the only one, however, as Silverstar often went out of Camp towards ThunderClan but whenever she was asked why, she would only reply that she was looking for fox scents.  
Not long after leaving the Medicine Cat's Den and being a Warrior again, Ambereyes was expecting kits and moved into the Nursery just before Foxstrike and Doepounce were due to have theirs. The closer the day got, the more reserved and hidden away Foxstrike became, barely eating anything or even speaking.  
So, when Vixensong found the Queen making a nest for herself in her Den, she was very frustrated.  
"Please, Vixensong. I don't belong in the Nursery." Foxstrike pleaded quietly, her ears folded back against her head and in a tone that made Vixensong feel scared. The Queen had barely anything left on her bones. Knowing it was for the best, the Medicine Cat nodded her agreement, leaving her to make her nest while she went with Nettleclaw to do her last fighting training session.

A few days later, nearly at sunhigh, Foxstrike began her kitting while Vixensong helped, but she was terrified for the Queen. Seeing her tension, Badgerpatch had joined her to help, as clueless as he was.  
"Vixensong, I don't think I'm going to make it!" Foxstrike wailed as her first kit was born. The calico firmly shook her head, giving the Queen more raspberry leaves in an attempt to ease the pain she was having, which seemed to be far greater than other Queens despite the relatively normal kitting she was having, though there was a little too much blood for her liking.  
Giving the first kit, a brown she cat, to Badgerpatch to lick and keep warm, Vixensong got a stick for the Queen to bite down on while her kitting continued. Out the corner of her eye, she could see the shock on Badgerpatch's face as he frantically licked the kit.  
"She won't breathe properly." He hissed to the Medicine Cat, who took the kit herself and tried, managing to get the kit to breathe better, getting him to curl his tail around her to keep her warm.  
Foxstrike's efforts were getting weaker as her second kit was born, her breathing ragged as her littermate took the ginger and white-pawed tom, but his breathing was no better than the first.  
By the time her third kit was being born, the Queen was too exhausted to move and Vixensong had to gently push on Foxstrike's belly to help her have her final kit, nearly the same as her mother but with white ears. Vixensong was painfully aware that the Queen had lost a large amount of blood, but not an immediately fatal amount. She wrapped the kits up in Foxstrike's fluffy tail, putting them close to her belly.  
"How are they?" Foxstrike strained to sit up, but Vixensong pushed her back down. "What's wrong with them?"  
"They'll be fine." Badgerpatch gently mewed, turning to Vixensong, "Won't they?"  
While Vixensong nodded, the look she gave him before he left to get some wet moss for her told him that she didn't think they'd make it.  
The two she cats stayed awake long into the night, and as she predicted, the kits stopped breathing, one by one. Foxstrike named them Birdkit, Flamekit and Dawnkit before she finally closed up completely, going to sleep only after she was given a poppy seed. Brindleheart, who was guarding the Camp that night, didn't even look puzzled when Vixensong sat out in Camp, looking up to silverpelt.  
 _Why, StarClan, why?_  
Vixensong helped Foxstrike to the place where the Elders buried her kits in the morning, her eyes clouded with immeasurable grief, but she didn't make a single sound.

The situation only got worse the next day when WindClan received an unexpected visitor from RiverClan; Harrierheart.  
The brown tom strode boldly and haughtily into the Camp, turning straight for the Nursery but being countered by Ambereyes.  
"Where's Foxstrike?" He simply asked as Vixensong watched the situation from the Elders' Den.  
"In the Medicine Den." Ambereyes tensely replied. "What do you want with her?"  
The brown and white tom didn't answer her, just turning away. Vixensong had to scamper back to block him from her, but the larger tom just shouldered her aside.  
"Where are our kits?" He boomed, seeing Foxstrike laid alone and weak.  
"Dead. They were born too weak." Foxstrike replied, her voice cracking with all the emotion she had pent up since they had gone to StarClan.  
"You useless she cat! You denied RiverClan of Warriors!" He yowled in rage, a paw of long, unsheathed claws going straight for her belly.  
Without thinking twice, Vixensong hurled herself at the RiverClan cat, hitting his side and pushing him over. For a moment, he laid there, but he soon gave them a twisted smile, yowling out what could only be a battle cry. RiverClan cats swarmed the Camp like ants fleeing a destroyed ant hill, attacking everything in their sight, but none came into the Medicine Cat's Den, leaving Harrierheart isolated with the two she cats.  
The brown tom easily freed himself from the smaller Medicine Cat and quickly flipped them over so she was trapped underneath him, his claws digging into her shoulders like brambles, hurting her more as she tried to squirm free. He had kept his twisted smile, now with a blood hungry look in his eyes.  
"No! You can't kill a Medicine Cat!" The calico heard the Queen mew and unsteadly scramble to her paws, but he ignored her, lurching down towards her neck with wide open jaws. However, the pain came from his claws as Foxstrike dragged him off her, her teeth sunk into a tender spot in the back of his neck. The tom shook violently, eventually throwing the she cat off him and turning to her, easily pushing her around as she tried to dodge his blows, creating wounds that any other Warrior would easily recover from. Vixensong lurched up, aiming for his ears, but his rapid movements meant that her claws slashed his cheek, leaving a wound that would have left him eyeless if she had hit his eye instead. As he yowled from the pain, Foxstrike leapt onto his back and sunk her fangs firmly into his neck, letting him collapse as he died.  
The Medicine Cat took a step back as she realised what the red she cat had done, but the Queen didn't even hesitate to drag his body out into the Camp despite her own wounds.  
At the sight of the deceased tom, cries of horror rose from the invading cats, gradually turning into calls to retreat, their biggest cat taking Harrierheart with a snarl before fleeing with the rest of them.  
As cats came to have their wounds treated by her, Vixensong noticed that all the cats were young. She didn't see Reedstar, Fallowwhisker or any of the more senior RiverClan Warriors.  
"As soon as you let me out, I'm going to see Reedstar!" Silverstar hissed in rage to her and Nettleclaw as she was treated. "He's going to pay for this attack!"  
Vixensong frantically shook her head as they spoke.  
"You think I shouldn't go to Reedstar?" Silverstar looked at her with narrow eyes.  
Vixensong nodded slowly, trying to ignore her glare.  
"And why not? Reedstar was clearly behind this!"  
"Silverstar, I'm not so sure." Nettleclaw spoke up. "I didn't see him or Fallowwhisker there. Just lots of young Warriors."  
Vixensong nodded to Silverstar as he spoke, casting him a look of relief.  
"Are you both sure?" Silverstar asked, sighing when they both nodded firmly. "Very well. We will get to the bottom of this."  
Vixensong could only watch as she left the Den and went out of Camp.

Barely coming to the end of treating her Clan, most of who only had minor injuries from the short fight, and sitting with Foxstrike while she rested, Vixensong didn't expect Ambereyes to come racing over.  
"Doepounce thinks her kits are coming!" She announced loudly, making the Medicine Cat panic, torn between staying with the fragile Queen or going to help her littermate.  
"Go." Foxstrike tried to raise her head to push her away. "She needs you."  
The Medicine Cat nodded, quickly getting some borage from her optimistically large stock before running with Ambereyes to the Nursery where the red and fawn Queen was gritting her teeth. Whiteblossom was there, running her tail along her kit's back, and Aspenface was waiting outside. If he hadn't had his pawpad cut, he would have been pacing back and forward outside.  
"How is she?" The white Warrior asked, watching her carefully.  
Vixensong nodded with a smile, which Whiteblossom relayed to Doepounce quickly. This seemed like it would be an easy kitting.  
The Queen quickly had three kits, three tom cats, but trouble came when it came to her last kit.  
"Why won't it come, Vixensong?" Doepounce mewed in fear, instantly reaching Aspenface and sending him scrambling into the Nursery, only to be quickly removed by Ambereyes.  
In what felt like a rather uncomfortable flash back for the Medicine Cat, she pressed on the Queen's belly to help her have her last kit, a red she kit.  
Finally, she let Aspenface come in, letting him coo over his kits as she left, quickening her pace back to her Den, wanting to be able to check on Foxstrike.  
But the red she cat had already taken her last breath, finally becoming at peace as she was laid motionless in the Medicine Cat's Den.  
Frozen in place, her heart breaking in guilt, Vixensong barely registered Aspenface coming in, wanting to show his littermate his kits, but screeching in horror when he realised she was dead, not even asking the Medicine Cat's permission to take her out into Camp.  
Only when the Clan had calmed down did Vixensong go back to the Nursery to perform the proper checks on the kits, Doepounce telling her the names of each kit as she looked them over; Oatkit, the white tom with cream patches, Gorsekit, the brown tabby with black dapples, Pebblekit, the small grey tom with lighter undersides and Foxkit, the red she cat.  
"She looks exactly like Foxstrike, doesn't she?" Doepounce commented, "Aspenface wanted to name Foxkit after her."  
Even Vixensong had to admit the resemblance was perfect, almost too perfect. The kit didn't resist her checks like her littermates did, instead she just let her do what she needed to, almost like a Warrior after a fight getting their wounds treated.

Vixensong was glad when the next Moonpool meeting came. She needed to get away from the Clan and all the tension. She wanted to see Foxstrike in StarClan.  
Everything seemed normal until she reached StarClan and found Stagstar waiting for her.  
"I'm not the one you wanted to see, I presume?" He mewed when he saw her disappointed expression, mrrowing in laughter when she looked guilty. "Fear not, she is safe, but not in StarClan ."  
 _The Dark Forest?_ Vixensong looked up in alarm at the former Leader.  
"Not _there_ either." Stagstar gently reassured her. "She managed to do what no cat has done before - completely divide the entirety of StarClan on where she should go."  
Vixensong blinked, not understanding what Stagstar was implying had happened to the red she cat.  
"She now walks again in WindClan," he announced boldly "as Foxkit."  
Stunned, Vixensong could only stare at him with open jaws. She didn't realise how powerful StarClan was.  
"Have trust in her, Vixensong. Like she trusted in you in her final days."  
As the dream ended, Vixensong was left to wonder just what Foxstrike had done.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Moons passed in a strange peace. Morningshine's kits finally became Warriors, late due to the panic over the foxes, and Doepounce's kits became Apprentices under Vinestripe, Runningcloud, Harestep and Morningshine respectively, leaving Ambereyes and her three kits in the Nursery, though Vixensong suspected that they wouldn't be alone for much longer. Sometimes she felt jealous of her littermates who were all having kits of their own.  
Vixensong was just leaving Camp to go herb hunting when Silverstar bounded up to her side.  
"Mind if I join you, Vixensong?" She asked, smiling sweetly.  
Immediately suspicious, Vixensong nodded her reply, leading the Leader out of Camp and out into the territory as she went to find some comfrey, which took them towards the lake shore. The silver tabby stayed silent all the way down, uncomfortably so, and she just stood there while the Medicine Cat took some leaves off the plants, not offering to help until the calico was struggling a lot.  
"I'm sure you wish you had an Apprentice now." Silverstar commented as she picked up the leaves.  
 _How did I guess._ The Medicine Cat growled sarcastically in her mind, casting the Leader an unimpressed glare over her shoulder.  
"Why haven't you found an Apprentice yet? You remember what Stagstar said." The Leader pushed.  
Vixensong firmly shook her head, pointing her nose up to the sky.  
"Out of all of the kits that have been born recently, you're trying to tell me that _none_ have had the connection needed?" Silverstar mewed in somewhat sarcastic disbelief that only irritated Vixensong more.  
She shook her head as she forced her fur to lie flat, trying hard to prevent herself from turning and clawing Silverstar's ears off.  
"Fine. But please find one soon. The sooner you stop being a Medicine Cat, the better."  
 _"... You must support her, even if it is only indirectly."_ Twistedfoot's words echoed in the Medicine Cat's ears as the Leader looked at her with a hard, hidden gaze. Confidence flooded out of her like water down a river as she nodded submissively.  
"Good. Now let's go back to Camp." The Leader mewed in a tone as hard as her gaze, firmly keeping her back to the calico as they travelled back.  
When they got back to Camp, Silverstar put the herbs in a neat pile before leaving wordlessly, not even looking at her as she strolled away with her head high.  
Mentally sighing, Vixensong sat down to sort the herbs. By now she didn't need to think about what she was doing, her paws moving on their own to put the herbs in the right place and under the older herbs. Her mind blotted out the noise of the other cats in Camp. As she sat in the back of her Den, she realised just low lonely the Medicine Cat path was.  
As she got up to leave the herb store, an old and familiar scent hit her nose.  
 _Watersplash!_  
The star pelted cat was sat behind her, watching her with glittering eyes. When he saw her, he dipped his head to her with the same respect that Warriors greeted her with, smiling calmly and proudly before fading away.  
"Vixensong! Vixensong!"  
Badgerpatch's voice snapped the Medicine Cat violently out of her thoughts as it rang out in the hollow. She ran out to meet the panicked tom who practically pushed her to the Elders' Den, where the other elderly cats were sat over Frostwing, who was curled tightly around her own stomach, her breathing rapid and hollow, although Littlefire looked a little sick as well.  
"I-I think they must have eaten something bad, maybe crowfood, but I don't know when or what." The Warrior stuttered. It took Vixensong nudging him towards the Apprentices to unfreeze him from his place, matching her pace as she ran back to her Den and getting some yarrow, along with the biggest leaves she could find.  
She gave them to all of the Elders, including Bramblenose as a precaution, getting them to throw up onto the leaves. She watched Frostwing particularly, who seemed barely able to eat anything, the yarrow being a struggle.  
As she took some of the big leaves out, she heard the three newest Warriors mutter loudly in disgust at what she was doing.  
 _There's a reason you're not doing this._ Vixensong thought sarcastically as she took the leaves to the dirtplace, not reacting to them.  
As she buried the leaf, she wondered what could have made Frostwing so sick.  
The sound of more pawsteps made her jump, but she smiled gratefully as Badgerpatch came through, holding the rest of the leaves awkwardly in his jaws, burying them with hers.  
"What made them so sick, Vixensong?" Badgerpatch asked, uncomfortably mirroring her thoughts.  
All she could do was shrug to him.  
"Will Frostwing recover?" He gently asked.  
Vixensong genuinely didn't know if she would, but she wasn't hopeful. She could only shrug again, this time only more uncertain.  
"I know you'll do your best." The black and white tom touched his nose to her ear before leaving.  
For just a moment, Vixensong felt that that touch lasted just a little too long.

As ill as Frostwing was, Vixensong went to the Gathering a few sunrises later. Out of all her littermates, she was the only one to go, so Whiteblossom kept her company on the journey there, mostly talking about Doepounce's and Nighttail's kits, even remarking that she didn't think it would be long before Cherryfang and Yellowclaw would be in the Nursery as well, much to the amusement of Petalpool who was going too.  
However, she was the slowest one of all the cats going, even though there were older cats going, and the Clan had to slow down to match her. This made Vixensong painfully aware how old she was and how frail she was getting, much like Frostwing back in Camp.  
When they got to the Island, Whiteblossom went off to greet some ShadowClan cats, who Vixensong presumed were old friends, with a cheery wave of her tail, leaving the Medicine Cat by herself. She soon spotted another cat on their own.  
Mimicking her mother's cheery smile and tail wave, Vixensong approached her fellow Medicine Cat, who only turned to her when she got close, looking away from a group of new ShadowClan Apprentices.  
"Oh, hello, Vixensong." Mothspots mumbled awkwardly, dipping his head to her. "You can sit with me if you like."  
The calico smiled back to him, sitting beside him companionably. She followed his gaze back to the group of Apprentices, a group of four young cats who were evidently siblings.  
"Do you see that white tom?" He asked after realising she was watching. "He was the one who I thought would be my Apprentice. He's deaf in one ear. He thought otherwise."  
Mothspots looked somewhere between frustrated and humiliated as he watched the blue eyed tom, so the calico touched her tail tip to his shoulder. He gave her a distant smile as RiverClan arrived, Newtdapple and Lionleaf padding up to them.  
But, as Lionleaf ran up, she tripped and fell over her own paws in what reminded Vixensong of her Apprentice days. While she and Newtdapple went to help her, she heard the ShadowClan Apprentices laughing at the golden Medicine Cat. Mothspots scowled at them to be quiet, but the white tom only mimicked his glare to them mockingly, sending the rest of the Apprentices into fits of laughter.  
"Milkpaw! That's enough!" Kinktail stormed over with a look of thunder on his face that instantly shocked the young cats into silence.  
"Sorry, Kinktail..." Milkpaw mewed, but the calico could tell that he didn't mean it in the slightest.  
The other Medicine Cats sat where Lionleaf fell as she brought herself back up to her paws, still smiling as brightly as ever.  
The Gathered cats chattered as they waited for ThunderClan.  
Gradually, causal chatter turned into impatient grumbling. Time dragged on and Vixensong became more and more worried.  
 _Where is ThunderClan? And Swallowfang? Did the foxes attack them?_  
"We shall start the Gathering without ThunderClan!" Lizardstar called above the noise, ignoring the cats who protested.  
Vixensong couldn't listen to the announcements the Leaders were making, she was far too worried about Swallowfang and ThunderClan to listen. Judging by the expressions of the other Medicine Cats, they were worried too.  
The Gathering ended quicker than expected as only Lizardstar had any particularly notable news to share, but there was a general aura of uncomfortableness among all the cats as they left, muttering nightmare scenarios to each other of ThunderClan's demise.  
When they returned to Camp, Vixensong found herself unable to sleep from worry. She was just getting up to get a poppy seed as Silverstar came into her Den.  
"Vixensong, I'm worried about ThunderClan." She admitted quietly. "I'm going to their Camp at dawn. Are you coming too?"  
The Medicine Cat nodded, feeling slightly relieved that someone was as concerned as her. She took the poppy seed and fell into a dreamless sleep.

The sun had barely risen as Silverstar and Vixensong crossed the WindClan-ThunderClan boundary, walking into the seemingly lifeless forest. No birds sang overhead, no squirrels ran among the trees and no dawn patrol stopped them as they went deeper into ThunderClan territory. The only sound around them was their pawsteps on the undergrowth. The trees overhead blocked their view of the sky and around them, making Vixensong feel extremely claustrophobic.  
"It's too quiet..." Silverstar murmured as she looked around, twitching her whiskers.  
The two she cats made it most of the way to the ThunderClan Camp before they met any ThunderClan cats. Even then, it was Swallowfang, all on his own, herb hunting.  
"Swallowfang!" Silverstar called to the brown and white tom, racing over to him with Vixensong close behind.  
"Silverstar. Vixensong." The Medicine Cat dipped his head to them as if nothing was wrong.  
"Where was ThunderClan last night?" Silverstar asked, confused at his tone.  
"Last night?"  
"The Gathering."  
"Oh. Well, we had an... emergency to deal with." Swallowfang dodged the question.  
"May we see? Perhaps we could help you." Silverstar pushed.  
"... Very well." The Medicine Cat was clearly reluctant to bring them back to his Camp, but did so at Silverstar's asking. The two she cats shared a look as he lead them away.  
As soon as they emerged from the thorn tunnel, Silverstar gasped in horror. Laying across the Camp was a large, thick beech branch, that a group of Warriors were trying to move, unsuccessfully.  
"Was anyone hurt?" Silverstar asked, padding slowly forward, her eyes wide.  
"Yes." Swallowfang replied quietly. "Boulderroot now hunts with StarClan."  
Shocked, Vixensong touched her nose to his shoulder, receiving a grateful look back as Silverstar also gave her condolences.  
"May I speak to Redstar?" The silver tabby asked gently.  
"I should think so. Birchbranch is over there, it'd be better to ask him." The Medicine Cat replied, nodding to where the white and black tom was sat with a group of Warriors. "I could use Vixensong's help with something."  
"Of course." Silverstar dipped her head before going over to a confused Birchbranch. Vixensong followed Swallowfang to his Den.  
As soon as they were away from the eyes of the other cats, the calico buried her head into his fur in relief. She felt him bury his head into her fur in return, but in grief.  
"He saved me. He pushed me out the way of that branch." He shakily mewed, whispering to her. "I nearly _died_."  
Vixensong curled herself tightly around him, the thought of loosing him terrifying her.  
"You're right, Vixensong. I need to get myself together." The tom raised his head from her fur, touching his nose to the top of hers. "I'm so happy to see you."  
Vixensong smiled, licking his cheek, even though she really had to reach up to do so.  
"Now we just need to get all the foxes back." Swallowfang mused dryly, looking over to the crushed fox Den.

Silverstar let Vixensong stay with Swallowfang for that day, sending Nettleclaw back with the strongest Warriors of WindClan to help move the branch. She even managed to send word to Lizardstar and Reedstar, who in turn sent their Deputies and strongest Warriors to help. Seeing the Clans help each other gave Vixensong hope that Redstar wouldn't get to wipe out the other Clans.  
Despite the branch, there wasn't a lot for the Medicine Cats to do, so Vixensong went out herb hunting with Swallowfang, like he had been when he met her and Silverstar, although the two cats didn't do much hunting. They instead spent time together, quality time, acting like young Apprentices or Kits, playing and chasing each other, acting as young as they felt in their hearts.  
Breathless from excitement and joy, the two Medicine Cats eventually laid down next to each other in a clearing near the WindClan border, with the Moonpool stream rushing in the distance.  
"Can I ask you something, Vixensong?" Swallowfang mewed, suddenly rather serious and nervous.  
The calico raised her head off his paws from where she had been resting, nodding as she looked at him with her head tilted to one side questioningly.  
"I-I know it's forbidden and such, and it won't progress any further if you don't want it to-"  
The tom cut his sentence short, taking a deep breath in and out before restarting his sentence, but Vixensong was already boiling under her fur.  
"I love you, Vixensong, more than anything. Will you be my mate?"  
Vixensong lit up, nodding her head vigorously, twisting her tail with his as he purred loudly, licking the top of her head.  
"You've made me so happy, Vixensong."


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Sadly, Frostwing passed away not long after the Gathering, not from eating crowfood but from an unknown disease that Vixensong didn't know how to treat. As Whiteblossom predicted, Cherryfang and Yellowclaw moved into the Nursery, but only several moons later and a couple of moons after Doepounce, pregnant with her second litter with Aspenface.  
At the Moonpool meeting before the red and fawn Queen had her kits, Vixensong laid beside the Moonpool to have her dream, wondering who she would see.  
As soon as her dream started, Watersplash greeted her with the youthful joy of proud parents whose Kits had just earned their Warrior names.  
Vixensong quickly caught his contagious joy, touching noses with her mentor with a bright smile.  
"It's nearly time for you to take an Apprentice, Vixensong." Watersplash mewed, still smiling, but Vixensong's expression dropped.  
 _Is my time as a Medicine Cat finished already? Who will my Apprentice be? How will I train them? Will I have to step down as soon as they're trained? Will Silverstar_ make _me step down?_  
"Don't worry, my Apprentice." Watersplash touched his nose to her head when he saw the almost frightened look on her face. "I will help you to train them. I will visit them in their dreams so they can learn all the things they'll ever need to know. I will even perform their ceremonies, if you would like me to?"  
Vixensong nodded keenly, relieved that she wouldn't be doing it entirely alone. She didn't know how she would have.  
"Excellent." The blue-grey tom purred in satisfaction. "You will know who it is in time, Vixensong."  
The dread suddenly came back as Watersplash spoke, her stomach knotting as the dream began to fade.  
"I know you'll choose the best cat." Watersplash called as the dream ended.  
The WindClan Medicine Cat woke up gently, blinking her eyes softly to adjust them to the dim light of the hollow. However, she didn't sit up, not yet. Her mind was racing with thoughts and feelings, joy and dread, anticipation and hesitation. It struck her these feelings were probably the same as a new mother's.  
"You look like you've had a nice dream." Newtdapple mewed when she finally sat up, diverting her attention from her own Apprentice.  
Vixensong nodded gently. She felt like she was looking forward to having an Apprentice.  
During the walk back, an Apprentice was all she could think about. Would they be kind like Newtdapple? Cheery like Lionleaf? Optimistic like Swallowfang? Persistent like Mothspots? Calm like Boulderroot? Intelligent like Watersplash? Observant like her?  
All these questions flooded her head as she walked back into Camp, past Doepounce's first litter, who were on their vigil and past the Nursery, where the heavily pregnant Doepounce, the relatively newly pregnant Cherryfang and the even less pregnant Yellowclaw slept peacefully. She wondered which of their kits would be her Apprentice, if any of them.  
As she settled in her nest, she swore to StarClan that she would train them to the best of her ability.

The Medicine Cat was woken early the next morning by Yellowclaw, telling her that Doepounce's kits were coming.  
Settled into the routine of taking some borage and raspberry leaves and running to the Nursery, Vixensong was soon by her littermate's side.  
"What if it happens again, Vixensong?" Doepounce hissed as pain rippled through her. "What if one of them doesn't want to be born?"  
Vixensong firmly shook her head. It wouldn't happen again. She was ready this time.  
Thankfully for the Queen and the Medicine Cat, Doepounce had her kits quickly, two tom cats, one a pale cream and the other black, just like Nighttail.  
Confident that everything was well, Vixensong let Aspenface come in as she left, returning to her other duties.  
On the way to the Elders' Den, she passed Silverstar, but she was in two much of a good mood to be intimidated by the silver tabby, despite the glare she gave the Medicine Cat out the corner of her eye. She wondered for a moment what the Leader knew.  
When she got to the Elders' Den, she saw that Bluewhisker and Brindleheart were sat with Bramblenose and Littlefire, talking together like the Elders did when she was a kit.  
"Hello, Vixensong." Bramblenose spotted the Medicine Cat first. "How are Doepounce's kits?"  
The calico nodded with a small smile, gesturing to the gathered cats.  
"Well, my eyes feel a little dry and itchy..." Brindleheart gently mewed, as if she was afraid to inconvenience the calico.  
"My pawpad is cracking up again." Littlefire added, with Bramblenose nodding her agreement.  
Vixensong nodded, returning to her Den, eventually deciding to pick up some celandine for Brindleheart's eyes.  
 _Oh. I'm out of coltsfoot._  
Knowing that yarrow would probably soften Littlefire's pawpad up, she tentatively took some with her.  
After she dripped the juice of the celandine into the striped calico's eyes, the two littermates left quickly after a shared look when they saw Silverstar going back to her Den. However, she was much slower to make the yarrow ointment for Littlefire. Not only was she extremely weary of the yarrow itself, she wasn't entirely sure how to make one. She had only seen Watersplash do it once when she was a new Apprentice and neither of them had had to do it since.  
Trying not to let the Elders see her uncertainty, she applied the ointment gently to his pawpad and left as soon as she could afterwards.

As the weather warmed up, Cherryfang finally had her kits.  
While she had her kits, Yellowclaw stayed close to her littermate, running her tail along the tortoiseshell's back as she kitted while Doepounce kept her nearly two moon old kits close to her with her tail, but the two kits watched the Medicine Cat enthusiastically.  
Only when her four kits were born did Vixensong relax a little, giving the Queen the borage leaves before leaving the Queens in peace.  
She sat down in the herb store, returning the borage to the pile and sorting through her herbs, a pile of herbs to discard growing slowly by her side.  
"Can we take those to the dirtplace for you?"  
Startled, Vixensong whipped her head around to find Darkkit stood behind her with Palekit hanging awkwardly but keenly behind him. The Medicine Cat nodded, quickly adding more herbs that she would usually keep for a bit longer to the pile so that they couldn't take it between just the two of them, making her go with them to see what they did. While Darkkit confidently buried the herbs without a second thought, the shy Palekit waited for Vixensong to tell him what to do and she got him to bury the herbs alongside Darkkit's.  
"Can we help you with anything else, Vixensong?" Palekit quietly asked.  
The Medicine Cat nodded with a smile, knowing that she still needed to see the Elders. She lead the two kits to the Elders' Den, where the cats inside, including the now retired Bluewhisker and Brindleheart, greeted them warmly, quickly offering stories to the Kits. While Palekit nodded, sitting with Bramblenose while the other cats described their problems to the Medicine Cat. Darkkit, however, huffed when Bramblenose called him to join them.  
"I'm helping Vixensong!" He squeaked.  
Vixensong nudged the kit over to his littermate and the Elder, but he took some convincing to finally give in and listen to her stories while the Medicine Cat treated the others.

Only a claw moon later Vixensong returned to Camp with her jaws full of coltsfoot only to hear Yellowclaw's distressed wails on the wind.  
 _Her kits!_  
Dropping her herbs neatly outside the Nursery, she poked her head inside to reassure the Queens that she was there, not being as shocked as she should be to find Darkkit trying to give the kitting Queen some borage.  
Getting the kit to come with her, Palekit too so he didn't feel left out, she went to fetch some raspberry leaves and gave them to Yellowclaw as she had her only kit. Stepping back, she allowed the two kits to give the new mother some borage.  
As she left the Nursery, Silverstar caught her eye, nodding to her to meet her in her Den.  
"So," Silverstar started as Vixensong sat down. "I hear that Doepounce's kits have been helping you with your duties."  
Grinning, Vixensong nodded. It certainly felt nice to have a helping paw.  
"Will you take one of them as an Apprentice?" Silverstar asked.  
The calico nodded, slower this time.  
"Which one?"  
She slowly shrugged. She didn't know yet.

"Vixensong! Vixensong! Can we come herb hunting with you?"  
The Medicine Cat was just about to step out of Camp when the two Kits called after her. When she nodded back towards the Nursery, asking if Doepounce had let them go, the two Kits looked at each other guiltily. Internally sighing, knowing her trip to the border to see Swallowfang was now off, Vixensong took them back to the Nursery, getting them to ask their mother.  
"Are you happy to take them with you?" The red and fawn Queen asked.  
Vixensong nodded, smiling keenly to her littermate which made her Kits even more excited.  
"Are you going far?" The Medicine Cat could see mild fear in the Queen's eyes, relieving it as she shook her head. "Go on then."  
The two Kits squealed in joy, racing ahead to the entrance, waiting for Vixensong to catch them up and lead them out into the territory. While Palekit hung by her side, gasping in awe at the view around them, Darkkit ran off ahead as soon as he caught the scent of the marigold they were looking for, mildly annoying the Medicine Cat as she knew she shouldn't let the kit out of her sight.  
However, when she caught up to him, the kit was already taking leaves off the plant, a bit more destructively than Vixensong would have liked.  
She stopped the kit, showing the two of them how to nip leaves off the plant while damaging the stem as little as possible before letting them do it themselves. While Darkkit needed to be reminded, Palekit learnt quite quickly.  
Satisfied, Vixensong and the two Kits padded back to Camp, each carrying some marigold that was dropped off into the herb store before Vixensong ushered the tom cats back to the Nursery.  
Out the corner of her eye, she saw Silverstar watching them.

When the day of Palekit and Darkkit's Apprenticeship came, Vixensong was still painfully unsure of which Kit was going to become her Apprentice, and when Silverstar brought prey over to share with her, she knew exactly how the conversation was going to go.  
"So, have you decided which of Doepounce's kits will become your Apprentice?" She asked between bites of the rabbits she had brought over.  
With a grimace, the Medicine Cat shrugged, expecting Silverstar to be angry. Instead, she sighed gently.  
"I thought as much. I understand that it isn't an easy decision for you. I will give you as much time as I can." She replied.  
Vixensong nodded gratefully, feeling just a little bit of the pressure being lifted off her shoulders.  
As they finished their prey, Silverstar noted that Mistspeckle had become mates with Brownfoot, but that she was old to have her first litter, much like Whiteblossom was. For a moment, the two she cats shared mild fear over the grey she cat.  
Finally, Silverstar couldn't wait any longer as she saw Doepounce stood just outside the Nursery with her two Kits.  
She called a Clan meeting waiting until all the cats had gathered before speaking.  
"Today, we strengthen the Clan by creating new Apprentices." Silverstar announced. "Come forward, Palekit and Darkkit."  
As the two Kits padded forward, standing below Tallrock, Vixensong took a deep breath, also moving forward and sitting below Tallrock, facing the gathered cats.  
She wished she could take them both as her Apprentice. But she couldn't.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

As Silverstar continued the Ceremony, Vixensong felt her heart beating faster and faster, getting warmer under her fur.  
"Vixensong has decided that she will take an Apprentice." Silverstar announced. "Our next Medicine Cat will be..." The Leader trailed off, looking down at the calico.  
All of the Clan's eyes were on the Medicine Cat, their gazes stabbing her like thorns in her pawpads. Her mind shut down as she tried to choose. Both Kits would make excellent Apprentices. Darkkit had initiative and a quick mind, being easily able to adapt to emergency situations, but he was confident to the point of being arrogant. Palekit, however, was gentle and kind to others, having an aura of soothing calmness to him, but he lacked faith in himself, which may have made him unable to act definitively under pressure.  
Vixensong was just about to point to Darkkit when she noticed that, unlike all the other cats, Palekit wasn't looking at her, instead just to her left side, his eyes clouded in confusion. She nearly turned her head to see what he was looking at but Watersplash's scent hit her nose before she did.  
Thanking her mentor in her mind, she pointed to Palekit with her nose, shocking the pale kit but earning a respectful smile from his littermate, although she momentarily swore she saw a fire in his eyes.  
"Palekit, do you accept the post of Medicine Cat Apprentice to Vixensong?" Silverstar asked the kit.  
"I-I accept." He replied, still clearly in shock at being chosen.  
"Then, until you earn your full name, you will be known as Palepaw. You will travel together with Vixensong at the half moon to the Moonpool where you will be accepted before StarClan. The Clan wishes you the best."  
Vixensong padded forward to touch noses with her new Apprentice, smiling kindly at him as he looked back at her with wide eyes, before sitting back in the crowd with him by her side.  
"Darkkit, you have reached the age of six moons and it is time for you to become an Apprentice. From this day on, until you earn your Warrior name, you will be known as Darkpaw. Your mentor will be Dewfall."  
Vixensong watched the white-legged tom come out from the crowd, his odd eyes shimmering in pride and joy at getting an Apprentice.  
"Dewfall, you are ready for your first Apprentice. You were trained by one of our most senior Warriors and you have shown yourself to be brave and enthusiastic. I trust you to pass down everything you know to him."  
"Of course, Silverstar." Dewfall purred, touching noses with Darkpaw as the Clan cheered for the new Apprentices.  
"Palepaw! Darkpaw! Palepaw! Darkpaw!"  
When the meeting was dismissed, Vixensong let Palepaw run over to Aspenface and Doepounce, watching Dewfall do the same, the new mentor going to sit beside the Medicine Cat as their Apprentices enthused to their parents.  
"Looks like I have a challenge with Darkpaw, huh?" Dewfall mrrowed in amusement as Darkpaw bounced around excitedly.  
Vixensong grinned teasingly, watching her own Apprentice as he sat beside his parents.  
"I know you'll do great with Palepaw." Dewfall added, touching his tail tip to her shoulder.  
The Medicine Cat smiled gratefully to her friend, feeling reassured a little. Even with Watersplash around, she was still worried about how she would train him without being able to talk to him.  
When their Apprentices finally returned to them, they were still full of excitement. However, as Silverstar had stalled the meeting to give Vixensong as much time to decide as she could, there was very little daylight left.  
"We think it would be best for both of you to make nests for tonight." Dewfall gently told them. "There's not enough time for a tour now."  
"Aww!" The Apprentices protested.  
"We will go on tour in the morning, we promise. Right, Vixensong?"  
When Vixensong nodded her agreement, the two Apprentices perked up, going to collect moss for their nests. When he had some, Vixensong lead him to the alcove where she slept. As he made his nest, she saw that Palepaw had something else on his mind.  
"Did you see the blue cat beside you during the ceremony?" He suddenly asked, looking up at her with his paws still buried in the moss of his unfinished nest.  
Vixensong broke into a pleased smile as he mentioned her mentor.  
"Who was he?"  
The Medicine Cat just nodded to him to finish his nest. She knew he'd find out soon enough.

The next morning, Dewfall woke the Medicine Cats up early to join himself and Darkpaw on their tour of the territory.  
As soon as they topped the biggest hill in the territory, both the Apprentices gasped in awe as the Warrior purred.  
"Over there is the Island." Dewfall pointed with his nose to the spot of land near the edge of the lake. "It's only a few sunrises until the Gathering."  
"Will we be announced there?" Darkpaw asked, eyes sparkling.  
"Of course." The blue tom purred. "And when you become a Warrior too, Darkpaw."  
"Will Silverstar announce me?" Palepaw asked Vixensong in mild worry. "I haven't been to Moonpool to be accepted by StarClan yet!"  
Vixensong nodded, touching her nose comfortingly to his ear.  
"I can't wait!" Darkpaw announced loudly, cutting off all conversation between the cats but also scaring off a rabbit that had been nibbling on a plant nearby.  
"Come on." Dewfall mewed once he'd finished laughing. "I'll show you how we hunt here."  
As Darkpaw ran off ahead, Dewfall dipped his head to the Medicine Cats before running after his new Apprentice.  
Vixensong took her own Apprentice down to the shore where comfrey grew, along with a bit of watermint. She showed her Apprentice how to uproot the plant, damaging the valuable roots as little as possible, and how to wash off the dirt in the lake water. He watched her closely before repeating the motions himself, only needing interference when he pulled too hard on the plant.  
"Was Watersplash your mentor?" The young tom asked as they went back to Camp with the root.  
Vixensong nodded, smiling to him despite her heart aching with nostalgia. She missed Watersplash. She wondered for a moment what he thought of Palepaw.

"Are the other Medicine Cats nice?" Palepaw asked his mentor as they travelled to the Gathering.  
Vixensong nodded. Palepaw's enthusiasm was starting to grow tiring for the calico as his onslaught of questions continued.  
"Any other Apprentices?"  
The Medicine Cat nodded again, but held up her paw and shook her head.  
"Do you mean that they have their full names already?" He asked, tilting his head to one side, smiling brightly when she nodded. "I can understand you!"  
 _Why shouldn't you be able to understand me?_ Vixensong only blinked at him as they reached the fallen tree that lead them onto the Island.  
The Apprentice's eyes popped open as they got to the clearing, seeing all the cats gathered there from all the other Clans. As Darkpaw was taken by the other WindClan Apprentices to meet Apprentices from the other Clans, Vixensong took Palepaw to meet the other Medicine Cats, which included a very happy Mothspots.  
"Greetings!" Newtdapple called over to them as they trotted up, Vixensong waving her tail in greeting and sitting down beside Swallowfang, with Palepaw sitting on her other side.  
"I'm Lionleaf!" The golden she cat moved to sit beside him with her usual energy. "What is your name?"  
"Um, I'm Palepaw." The tom replied, surprised at how lively she was.  
"Nice to meet you, Palepaw. So, you're Vixensong's Apprentice?" Lionleaf continued to chatter.  
"She'll talk his ears off." Mothspots murmured in amusement, looking mildly embarrassed when the other Medicine Cats laughed.  
"How long have you been training him?" Swallowfang asked.  
Vixensong unsheathed a claw and held it up to the moon.  
"I presume you'll be bringing him to Moonpool at the next meeting for his ceremony?" Newtdapple mewed.  
Vixensong nodded, giving her an excited grin.  
"How will you do th-"  
"Let the Gathering begin!" Lizardstar yowled above the chatter, silencing it almost instantly. "In ShadowClan, we have a new Warrior - Milkwhisker!"  
"Milkwhisker! Milkwhisker! Milkwhisker!"  
Vixensong glanced at Mothspots, but the tom was cheering as much as any other cat. She was glad Mothspots had gotten over Milkwhisker not being his Apprentice and that the white tom was finally a Warrior with his littermates.  
Redstar announced that one of their Queens had given birth to two healthy Kits, slyly adding that they wouldn't be the only Kits in the Nursery for long.  
Reedstar had no important news to share, such as new Warriors or Apprentices, instead saying that RiverClan was well and prey was bountiful.  
When Silverstar's turn came, she was smiling joyfully.  
"WindClan has two new Apprentices, Palepaw who has become Vixensong's Apprentice and Darkpaw who has been apprenticed to Dewfall!"  
"Palepaw! Darkpaw! Palepaw! Darkpaw!" The cats chanted as Palepaw looked embarrassed from the attention. Vixensong looked at him with a smile full of hope.  
"You'll do perfectly, Vixensong." Swallowfang whispered into her ear, loosely curling his tail around her's.  
When the chanting died down, Silverstar ended the Gathering with a swish of her fluffy tail, gathering the cats of her Clan and leaving.  
 _Only a quarter moon now._

The Moonpool meeting quickly rolled around, but since the Gathering, Vixensong had noticed that Palepaw was off, but he didn't seem ill.  
Only when they were walking to the Moonpool did the tom speak his mind.  
"Vixensong, can I ask you something?" The Apprentice looked right at her, almost through her.  
The Medicine Cat nodded, fearful of what he was going to ask.  
"Medicine Cats aren't allowed mates, are they?"  
 _Oh StarClan, what does he know?_  
Vixensong nodded slowly, her blood running ice cold.  
"Please don't think that I am accusing either of you of breaking the code, but is there something between you and Swallowfang?"  
Vixensong managed to pull a face and shake her head, but under her fur, she was trembling. She managed to make it to the stream without him seeing her shaking, thankful to be sitting down with Newtdapple and Lionleaf while waiting for the other Medicine Cats. While Lionleaf talked Palepaw's ear off again, Vixensong was happy to sit in companionable peace with Newtdapple.  
Only when Mothspots and eventually Swallowfang arrived did they go to Moonpool.  
Like Swallowfang did with her Medicine Cat ceremony, Vixensong lead the group to drink from the pool and share a dream together.  
When they entered the dream, Watersplash was waiting for them, purring brightly when Vixensong bounded over to him.  
All the Medicine Cats besides Palepaw sat in an arc, with Watersplash and Vixensong in the middle.  
"Palepaw," Watersplash started the new Apprentice's ceremony. "Is it your desire to become a Medicine Cat and enter the mysteries of StarClan?"  
"It is." Palepaw replied, looking very slightly overwhelmed by what was happening.  
"Then come forward, Palepaw."  
The young tom stepped forward, stopping a few tail lengths from Watersplash and the other cats.  
"Cats of StarClan, we present this Apprentice who has chosen the path of a Medicine Cat. Grant him your wisdom and insight so that he may understand your ways and heal his Clan as you desire."  
Once the pale tom had touched noses with his mentor and his StarClan mentor, the Medicine Cats parted ways to have their dreams, although Palepaw stayed with Watersplash.  
Vixensong however, found herself sat alone with Ryeflower, who had an expression that the living cat couldn't read.  
"Congratulations on your Apprentice, Vixensong." The tan and cream she cat smiled, but she didn't purr like Watersplash and the others did. She didn't even seem that happy.  
Vixensong looked at her, not hiding her concern at the sweet StarClan cat's odd behaviour.  
"One of the bad things about being in StarClan is knowing exactly what is going to happen, but being utterly powerless to change it." Ryeflower looked away as she spoke.  
Vixensong watched her sigh with wide, horrified eyes.  
 _What will happen? What does she know?_  
"I promise, Vixensong. It may seem like your path has ended, but it hasn't. Not yet." Ryeflower turned back to her, pleading to her. "It may get dark like the night, but the sun will rise again."


	19. Chapter Eighteen

It may have been the middle of the night, but not everyone was asleep.  
From the Medicine Cats' Den, Vixensong padded out, making a prompt turn towards the dirtplace, making it seem to the guard like she was just going to make dirt and go back.  
However, as soon as she was out of sight of the Camp, she broke into a sprint.  
 _I'm late! I hope he'll still be there..._  
The Medicine Cat was in such a blind rush that she lost control of her paws, unable to stop herself when she got to the stream and falling in with a loud splash. As her head fell under the water, panic overtook logic in her mind, her paws flailing wildly until they hit something solid enough so that she could pull herself out.  
"Vixensong!" Swallowfang ran up as she shook the water out of her fur. "Are you alright?"  
He frantically began licking her fur backwards, evidently out of fear, only stopping when she physically pushed him away.  
"At least have some feverfew?" He pleaded, rushing away when she nodded.  
Shaking her head in amusement, Vixensong sat down, licking her fur back into place as she remembered when she was his Apprentice and she'd eaten some when she was developing whitecough.  
 _I wish we could be like that again._  
Swallowfang soon returned, practically shoving the feverfew into her jaws, only calming down now she had laid beside him. She began to groom him as he chattered.  
"I'm starting to think ShadowClan is getting wise to the foxes." He sighed. "Lizardstar came to Camp, warning Redstar that they had come back. He saw them on our border."  
Vixensong just nodded, continuing to share tongues with him. That explained why Birchbranch had visited them that day.  
"I don't know what he's planning now. He's too tricky to read." Swallowfang started to sound worried. "He even came to me to ask if _StarClan_ had said anything to me about the foxes."  
Vixensong couldn't help a little wince, stopping and looking at him, unfortunately finding that he was completely serious.  
"But, anyway. Let me groom you now. Your fur has been wet too long."  
Swallowfang groomed her in return, stopping occasionally to ask her questions about her Clan; Silverstar, Palepaw, the Elders, the Queens and Kits. It reminded her that everything was well even if Redstar was plotting away. She rested her head on his paws as he reached her lower back, rolling onto one side and closing her eyes, feeling him purr as she moved closer.  
"Funny thing is one of the foxes is fascinated by herbs. He keeps hanging around my Den and helping me collect herbs." He mewed as he rested his head on her shoulders. "I guess I've found my own Apprentice."  
Vixensong nodded with a grin but yawning as she settled down again, letting her eyes close and doze blissfully as Swallowfang gently finished grooming her.

"Vixensong! Vixensong!" Palepaw shook his mentor awake. "Why are you still asleep?"  
Vixensong slowly blinked her eyes open, seeing her Apprentice leant over her.  
"Are you sick?" He barrelled her with questions. "Do you have a fever? Chills? Pains?"  
Vixensong nodded slowly as he mentioned chills, getting up and stiffly padding to the herb store, her Apprentice keenly following, picking out some feverfew and eating it.  
"Feverfew helps chills?" Palepaw asked curiously, looking at her as she ate it. "I thought it only helped fevers."  
Vixensong nodded, quickly taking a poppy seed as well and returning to her nest. Maybe she was still chilled from the river, but she was exhausted from seeing Swallowfang.  
"I can take care of the Clan for today if you want to rest."  
Vixensong just nodded, letting Palepaw go. She knew that there wasn't anything difficult to do, so she went back to sleep. Her sleep was strangely dreamless and empty.  
It didn't take long for her to wake up again, frustrated and still tired. And feeling a little guilty about leaving the checks to Palepaw. He had only been her Apprentice a couple of moons.  
The calico rolled onto her paws and padded out into Camp, her eyes instantly being drawn to the kits in the Nursery, who were due to be apprenticed any day now.  
Dodging the overexcited kits, Vixensong weaved her way into the Nursery, seeing Heatherblaze in there with the Queens beside a half made nest.  
"Hello Vixensong." The lilac tortoiseshell purred, her littermate's kits smiling their greetings too but watching their own kits.  
Vixensong dipped her head to all of them, but pointed questioningly to the nest with her muzzle.  
"I'm expecting kits." Heatherblaze mewed, looking back at her equally questioningly. "Didn't Palepaw tell you? I've known for a few sunrises."  
While the Medicine Cat flared in anger internally, she kept a smile on her face, shaking her head briefly but smiling her congratulations to Heatherblaze, though she momentarily wondered who the father was, knowing that both Vinestripe and Runningcloud had affections for her.  
Her anger had calmed to irritation by the time she left the Nursery, seeing that the new Queen was comfortable and that all the others were well.  
"Vixensong, Littlefire isn't well!" Palepaw raced over to her, calling to her so loudly that all the cats in the hollow heard.  
More harshly than she intended, Vixensong put her tail over his mouth to get him to be quiet, but, he just began to tug on her tail instead. It was now that she saw the panic in his eyes. Relenting, she ran to the Elders' Den, but as soon as she saw the Elder, she knew it was already too late.  
The thin tom was convulsing, violently before she had arrived, but now it was getting weaker and weaker. The calico laid beside him, running her tail along his back as a final gesture of comfort, nodding to the other cats to fetch Rosenose and Darkfall before he went to StarClan.  
She shuffled aside to let his kits be with him, gently closing his eyes when he had gone.  
Rosenose let out a weak wail of despair and Darkfall sat in shock as Vixensong left the Elders' Den to find Silverstar.  
She slunk her way into the Leader's Den, finding the silver tabby clearly just awoken.  
"Was that Rosenose? What's going on?" She mewed groggily, coming to a sudden realisation when Vixensong nodded towards the Elders' Den.  
"Littlefire?" She asked, her jaws opening and closing when Vixensong nodded, pointing her nose to the sky. "Nettleclaw is going to be devastated..."  
The two she cats left the Den as Nettleclaw returned with a hunting patrol. The Medicine Cat let Silverstar take Nettleclaw to Littlefire, ushering her own Apprentice away to their Den.  
"Why didn't you help him?" Palepaw asked, his anger coming from his shock. "We're Medicine Cats!"  
Vixensong firmly shook her head, seeing Palepaw's expression drop from anger to sadness.  
"You couldn't help him at all?" He quietly mewed, almost resigningly.  
Vixensong shook her head, putting her tail over his shoulders. She decided that Heatherblaze could wait until later.

Even by the time the next Moonpool meeting came around, Palepaw was still distressed. Vixensong hoped that talking to the other Medicine Cats would help him feel better.  
Unsurprisingly, they were the last to the meeting. Newtdapple quickly picked up on the sadness of the WindClan cats.  
"What's wrong, Palepaw?" She asked, her eyes clouded in concern.  
"One of our Elders died..." Palepaw took a moment to reply. "We couldn't save him..."  
"Oh, Palepaw." Newtdapple touched her nose to his head. "We can't save all cats. He's safe in StarClan now."  
"I-I guess. I wish we could have easied his way."  
Mothspots opened his jaws, but a glare from Vixensong shut him down quickly. She knew exactly what he was going to say and deathberries wouldn't have helped.  
"How did he die?" Lionleaf gently asked.  
"He-He just started convulsing. Out of nowhere." Palepaw's legs started to shake from how emotional he was getting.  
"That's how my mentor died, Palepaw." Mothspots finally padded forward, touching his tail to Palepaw's flank. "We cannot save all cats, even the ones that are closest to us."  
"I-I guess." Palepaw managed a weak smile to the other cats.  
Vixensong, however, shared a gaze of joint sorrow with Swallowfang, which broke when Lionleaf reminded them that they needed to go to Moonpool.  
The Medicine Cats padded down into the hollow without another word said and started their dreams.

When the calico woke up in StarClan, she wasn't surprised that no cat was immediately there to greet her, so she waited, wondering why the scar on her hip hadn't been covered by her fur by now.  
"Greetings, Vixensong." Watersplash mewed, distracting her from her hip. "You seem surprised to see me."  
Vixensong nodded slowly, nodding to where Palepaw was asleep beside her in the waking world.  
"He is seeing someone else he needs to see." Watersplash gently explained. "You, I believe, need to see me. What troubles you?"  
Vixensong's ears folded back as she nodded again to where Palepaw would be.  
"You're worried about his training?" Watersplash questioned.  
Vixensong shook her head.  
"You're worried about him?"  
The calico nodded, raising her head to see her former mentor smiling kindly at her.  
"He will come around, I assure you. It was a lesson he needed to learn sooner or later." Watersplash told her before chuckling. "He's keen, I'll give him that."  
Vixensong grinned brightly. As much as Palepaw managed to get on her fragile nerves sometimes, such as not telling her that Heatherblaze was pregnant, she had to admit that he was skilled. He already knew more about certain herbs than she did, although he had a long way to go.

Palepaw had been keeping a very close eye on Heatherblaze for the entirety of her pregnancy and while both the Queen and the Medicine Cat appreciated it, Vixensong suspected on more than one occasion that it was his attempt to make up for not telling her about her pregnancy in the first place.  
When she started to have her kits, it was very cold. Frost crunched under the Medicine Cats' paws as they ran to the Nursery. Petalpool had come too, coaching her littermate as she kitted, looking mildly relieved when they arrived.  
Nodding to Palepaw to watch her, Vixensong immediately turned her attention to the Queen, who, through lack of prey due to the cold, was weak and tired.  
Vixensong tried to suppress her memories of Doepounce's first and Foxstrike's kitting as Heatherblaze wailed out, but it was difficult from the start. She barely managed to have the first of her two kits, Vixensong had to help when it came to her second, but her paws were too big for the small she cat's belly.  
Despite every instinct telling her not to, she turned to Palepaw for help, even though the Apprentice was practically frozen in place. Showing him where to press, she and Petalpool willed Heatherblaze on, even Seedtuft came in to encourage the Queen as she had her second kit. As soon as she was sure that the new mother and her kits were well, she left Heatherblaze with her kits and kin, including Vinestripe who rushed in.  
"We did it." Palepaw breathlessly mewed. "We actually did it."  
Vixensong nodded to him, smiling as Palepaw licked his chest in embarrassment. She nudged him towards their Den before getting some prey for them to share.  
However, the prey pile was unusually bare, even for the time it was. She didn't think that there was enough fresh kill to feed the ever expanding Clan.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Despite her concerns, the cats in the Clan managed to hunt enough prey to keep the whole Clan reasonably well fed throughout Leaf-bare, even though the Medicine Cats had to give out travelling herbs at the height of Leaf-bare. However, the Warrior life had become too much for Rosenose and Darkfall, particularly after the death of Littlefire, so they retired.  
Over the coming moons, Palepaw continued to grow and grow in confidence and skill. She knew that he was due his full name. Watersplash had pointed it out to her repeatedly. But she was scared of what came after.  
However, when the Medicine Cat and her Apprentice were out in the territory herb hunting, Palepaw spoke up.  
"Vixensong, can I ask you something that may make you angry?" Palepaw asked, looking extremely tense.  
Vixensong growled internally, annoyed at the way he spoke to her, but gave him a curt nod as her reply.  
"I was wondering if I was ready for my full name yet...?" Palepaw asked, wincing slightly as she opened her jaws, but looking confused when she closed them again.  
The calico had to look away so that he didn't see her conflicted expression.  
 _What can I tell him?_  
"Do I know enough about herbs?" He questioned.  
Vixensong had to admit that he did. His knowledge was greater than hers.  
"Do I have enough experience?" He asked again.  
The calico took the opportunity, shaking her head to her Apprentice, although she felt extremely guilty when he visibly sagged.  
"Do I need much more?" He asked, smiling a little when she shook her head. "Thank you."  
Vixensong nodded, taking some comfrey root from the shore with him and taking it back to Camp, letting him go to see the Elders while she sorted the herbs. He may have felt better, but she only felt more guilty as she added the comfrey root to the pile.  
As she left her Den, she saw Cherryfang and Yellowclaw return with their new Apprentices, Heatherblaze's kits, carrying fresh kill. She remembered when they helped Heatherblaze have them, her stomach starting to twist.  
 _Was that really six moons ago?_  
She vacantly watched the group of she cats put the prey on the pile, seeing Palepaw talking to his littermate, now named Darkstorm. She remembered when Dewkit hid in the Apprentice's Den during the greencough outbreak and she had been able to spend time with her own littermates just as an Apprentice.  
Overwhelmed, she turned around and went straight to her nest in the alcove, sitting and trying to recollect herself and her thoughts. Palepaw looked so disappointed when she said no.  
She shook her head, getting the bees out her brain. She had to give him his name. She couldn't be afraid of what was ahead.  
Taking a deep breath in and out, she padded out the Den, going to see Whiteblossom and Woollyfur, who were laid with the Elders. For a moment, she saw the two of them as Elders aswell.

That night, as the cats went to the Gathering, Vixensong barely paid any attention to anything going on, putting on a face of normality as they arrived on the Island, going to join Swallowfang and Lionleaf while they waited for ShadowClan to arrive.  
As they approached, it was painfully clear that Lionleaf wasn't as cheery as usual. She looked upset and exhausted.  
"What's wrong?" Palepaw asked as the WindClan cats sat down.  
"Newtdapple is getting sick." The gold she cat replied. "None of my herbs are helping her."  
Palepaw touched his tail tip to her shoulder as Vixensong shared a shocked glance with Swallowfang, memories flooding back of the kind she cat.  
"She's strong, Lionleaf. Just like you. She'll pull through." Palepaw told the RiverClan cat, who smiled gratefully back to him, though Vixensong could tell she wasn't convinced.  
"Where's Newtdapple?" Mothspots strode up, looking mildly concerned.  
"Sick." Swallowfang gently answered.  
" _Very_ sick." Lionleaf corrected, making the calico wince at her tone.  
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Mothspots asked.  
"I don't think so, but thank you." Lionleaf looked away.  
"Would she mind us visiting her before our next meeting?" Swallowfang suggested.  
Lionleaf looked back up, smiling at her fellow Medicine Cats.  
"I think she would love it." She replied, purring as Silverstar called the start of the Gathering.  
Vixensong didn't pay attention to what the Leaders were saying, not that they reported anything out of the ordinary for a Gathering. The announcements of new Warriors and Apprentices made the Medicine Cat anxious, however, the news of Newtdapple pushed out of her mind for a while.  
When the Gathering was finished, Palepaw and Vixensong rapidly caught up to their Leader.  
"Silverstar, Newtdapple is sick. Very sick. Lionleaf has said it would make her feel better if the other Medicine Cats visited her." The cream tom explained.  
"The two of you want to go to RiverClan?" Silverstar slowly asked, looking between the two cats.  
"Yes." Palepaw mewed as Vixensong nodded.  
"When?"  
"As soon as we reasonably can in the morning."  
" _Both_ of you?"  
"Yes."  
"I'll never understand Medicine Cats." Silverstar sighed. "Does Reedstar know you'll be coming?"  
"Lionleaf would have said something on their way back to RiverClan."  
"Well, because you're Medicine Cats, you can go. But please don't stay out too long. Remember you have a Clan to take care of."  
Vixensong huffed internally as Silverstar strode away arrogantly, but Palepaw sighed in relief.  
"I thought she was going to say no for a moment." He grinned to his mentor as they finally arrived back at Camp.  
Vixensong smiled a hollow smile, heading to her nest and quickly curling up to sleep.

Not long after the dawn patrol had left, Vixensong and Palepaw were finishing their travelling herbs and leaving Camp for RiverClan.  
She could tell that Palepaw didn't want to say anything incase he disturbed her from her thoughts.  
Even when they met a RiverClan patrol, the Medicine Cat was so deep in her own thoughts that she barely recognised that they had arrived at their Camp.  
Leaving Palepaw to deal with Reedstar, Fallowwhisker and the other RiverClan cats, she quickly made her way into the Medicine Cats' Den, finding Lionleaf sat beside Newtdapple, who, while she did look sick, she didn't look anywhere near as sick as Lionleaf made her out to be at the Gathering.  
Newtdapple ate some feverfew as Lionleaf looked up, seeing Vixensong stood in the entrance and smiled in delight.  
"Vixensong! You came!" She mewed, purring. "Did Palepaw come too?"  
The calico nodded, pointing out into Camp where Palepaw was talking to Reedstar.  
"Someone needs to do the checks, Lionleaf." Newtdapple mewed, starting to stand up, but was firmly pushed back down again by her Apprentice.  
"I can do it, Newtdapple. You need to rest."  
Newtdapple nodded with a small chuckle as Lionleaf took some herbs and went out into Camp.  
Vixensong went to sit next to the kind old she cat, remembering just how accepting she had been of her when she was a new Apprentice.  
She became aware that Newtdapple was staring at her, so the calico gave her a questioning look.  
"You have his eyes." She stated.  
Vixensong looked puzzled. She didn't have Woollyfur's eyes. She didn't have either of parents' eyes. Neither did Doepounce or Nighttail.  
"He's so proud of you." She added, smiling an old, wise smile.  
 _She must be delirious._ Vixensong thought. _Lionleaf has her father's eyes._  
She got up and went to the RiverClan herb store, picking out some borage and a poppy seed for the old Medicine Cat just as Lionleaf returned with Palepaw.  
"She thinks I'm delirious." Newtdapple mewed before her Apprentice could ask what was happening.  
She saw Lionleaf open and close her jaws, but it was clear from her expression that she agreed with Vixensong.  
"However, I will have that poppy seed." Newtdapple added, but Lionleaf shook her head.  
"You've just woken up." Lionleaf argued. "I think some lavender would probably help you more."  
As Newtdapple laid in her nest, inhaling the lavender, it occurred to Vixensong that Newtdapple might not be around much longer. Her mind clouded as Lionleaf and Palepaw talked quietly nearby. She didn't want to have the RiverClan cat missing from Palepaw's ceremony. She had to give him his name at the next meeting.  
Her thoughts were broken as Mothspots arrived, which Vixensong used as an excuse for the WindClan cats to leave.

When they returned to Camp, she allowed Palepaw to go back to sleep while she went to see the Elders.  
However, she didn't get very far before Silverstar intercepted her, taking the Medicine Cat to her Den.  
"Is Palepaw ready for his full name yet?" She asked, seeming surprised when she nodded. "What will his name be?"  
Vixensong turned her head to lick her fur.  
"Palefur?"  
Vixensong shook her head, repeating the motion.  
"Palepelt?"  
Vixensong nodded this time and Silverstar purred in delight.  
"That's wonderful news! The Clan will be stronger with two Medicine Cats." She purred. "How is Newtdapple?"  
Vixensong shrugged and quickly excused herself before Silverstar could distract her anymore.

The Moonpool meeting came and Palepaw seemed none the wiser as to what was going to happen.  
Thankfully, Newtdapple had made it to the meeting and arrived with Lionleaf not long after they did.  
She lead them down into the hollow with a little urgency, partially due to her own excitement, getting the Medicine Cats to start their dreams.  
Vixensong couldn't help grinning as the other Medicine Cats woke up in their shared dream, confused and looking to her for answers.  
"Don't worry, she's just excited. It's not every sunrise your Apprentice gets their full name." Watersplash mewed as he padded up.  
The other Medicine Cats nodded in collective realisation, while Palepaw turned to Vixensong with wide, shocked but joyful eyes.  
"I thought you said I wasn't ready?" Palepaw mewed.  
Vixensong looked guilty, shaking her head, but smiled again when Palepaw put his head against hers, purring loudly.  
"I'll take the best care of the Clan that I can." He vowed to her, quiet enough so that only she heard him.  
Stepping back, she joined Watersplash and the other cats in their arc as their mentor started the ceremony.  
"I call upon StarClan to look upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of a Medicine Cat and, with our help, he will serve his Clan for many moons. Palepaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a Medicine Cat, standing apart from Clan rivalry and protecting all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I promise." Palepaw replied, his eyes still wide, but now they shone with joy alone.  
"Then, by the powers of StarClan and on behalf of Vixensong, I give you your true name. Palepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Palepelt. StarClan honours your compassion and enthusiasm, and we welcome you as a full Medicine Cat of WindClan."  
As the other Medicine Cats chanted his name, Palepelt went first to Watersplash and then to Vixensong, his mentors resting their muzzle on his head as he licked their shoulders in turn, making the calico beam as he couldn't stop purring.  
The Medicine Cats separated for their dreams, Vixensong leaving Palepelt with Watersplash once more, meeting Ryeflower who had the same unnerving expression as she did when the calico first brought Palepelt as her Apprentice.

The day after getting his name, Palepelt still seemed to be running on joy alone, a spring in his step as he went to see the Elders, which kept Vixensong's mood high too. Even the whole Clan seemed happy.  
She saw Brownfoot and Mistspeckle enter the Nursery and her mood got even brighter. She knew that the grey she cat was having kits. However, she saw Silverstar watching with a completely flat expression, which Vixensong put down to worry.  
That evening, Silverstar called a Clan meeting.  
"Is she announcing Mistspeckle's pregnancy?" Palepelt wondered aloud, echoing the Medicine Cat's thoughts.  
However, as soon as the calico saw the Leader on Tallrock, her heart stopped for a moment from the pure ice in her gaze.  
"What is she so angry about?" Cats murmured as the two Medicine Cats joined the crowd, but were silenced by Silverstar's rage filled yowl.  
"Vixensong!"  
Her paws trembling and the murmur between the other cats starting up again, the calico made her way in front of the crowd and to the base of Tallrock.  
Silverstar seemed to be shaking now from her anger.  
"You murdered Stagstar!"


	21. Chapter Twenty

Vixensong looked up in horror at Silverstar as the Clan began to chatter loudly in disbelief.  
"You _deliberately_ gave him foxglove seeds instead of poppy seeds, just when he was at his weakest!" Silverstar's words burned into her ears.  
Vixensong frantically shook her head as Silverstar scowled.  
"Did you or did you not give Stagstar foxglove seeds?" She questioned.  
Vixensong looked away in guilt.  
"Did you or did you not?" Silverstar demanded.  
Vixensong nodded her head slowly, the cats around her gasping.  
"She wouldn't have done it deliberately!" Palepelt ran to her side, almost pleading with Silverstar. "She would have been exhausted, taking care of the entire Clan on her own!"  
 _How does he know that?_ Vixensong wondered, giving her Apprentice a grateful look.  
"Stagstar wouldn't have lived much longer, Silverstar." Bramblenose spoke up from the group of Elders. "Ryeflower died that way too."  
"You can't be so sure of that, Bramblenose." Silverstar replied, soon turning back to the calico. "What about our Queens recently then? Doepounce, Heatherblaze and poor Foxstrike, who died under _your_ watch, not to mention her kits."  
Vixensong looked desperately around to the cats around her, hoping that someone would speak up for her, but she found nothing. Most cats were too in shock to speak. Doepounce was sat by Aspenface, too conflicted, Foxdawn too hesitant, Heatherblaze too guilty, her other littermates and parents too horrified.  
"Kit birth is a dangerous thing, Silverstar." Badgerpatch stood by the calico's side. "Particularly when we're all weak from Leaf-bare."  
"Silence!" Silverstar boomed with the intensity of an angry Lizardstar. "Vixensong, you are a danger to our Clan. Therefore, from this moment on you are banished from WindClan."  
Palepelt pressed by her side as the other cats gasped in shock and horror.  
"No, you can't go." Palepelt whispered. "I've only just got my name."  
Vixensong took a deep breath in and out. Without a voice, she couldn't stand up for herself, although she wasn't sure if any protests she did make would actually be heard by Silverstar or even acknowledged. Silverstar was too blindly attached to that prophecy.  
Putting on a brave face, Vixensong stood tall, giving Silverstar a curt nod before turning and walking away.  
"Wait, please, Vixensong!" Palepelt ran to catch her up.  
However, she just pushed him away, touching her nose to the top of his head, like a StarClan cat giving a new Leader a life, before she walked out of Camp without looking back.  
She walked across the moors, only looking back with regret when she was far enough away to be able to stop.  
She didn't know how she was going to survive alone.  
Seeing some burnet nearby, she took off some leaves and ate them as she made her way to the Moonpool stream. The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon and she knew she had to find somewhere to sleep before night came and predators came out.  
She couldn't go back to WindClan and she knew that she couldn't seek shelter in the other Clans, even as a Medicine Cat, Silverstar was far too angry, but there was one place that was neutral to all the Clans.  
Picking up what moss she could find on the way, Vixensong padded up the stream to the Moonpool hollow. She dropped the moss in the corner, away from the light of the entrance. She hadn't picked up nearly enough moss to make herself comfortable, but she managed to eventually fall asleep.

Sleeping on the hard floor had made the she cat achy as she got up the next morning, deciding quickly that she needed more moss.  
She had travelled most of the way down the stream when the pawsteps of a cat thundered up behind her.  
"Vixensong!" The voice of her Apprentice instantly quelled her fear as he ran up to her. "Where did you go last night? I tried looking for you."  
Vixensong pointed with her nose in the direction of Moonpool, which seemed to give him at least some reassurance.  
"At least you will be safe there." He mewed.  
"Hurry up Palepelt!" Nettleclaw's sharp voice echoed nearby.  
"Silverstar won't let me leave Camp without him." The cream tom sighed, quickly touching is forehead to hers. "May StarClan protect you, Vixensong."  
 _May StarClan protect you too, Palepelt._ She wished as he ran off before Nettleclaw and the other cats saw her, jumping over the border to avoid conflict if he did come after her, only to find Nettleclaw going over the border himself, going to speak to Redstar, Vixensong presumed.  
She gathered the rest of the moss and went back to the hollow before she got in trouble.

Even though she found every opportunity to eat burnet, sorrel and other travelling herbs, Vixensong soon found her stomach rumbling.  
 _Hunting should be easy. Even kits have caught prey before._ Vixensong thought as she wearily made her way back onto WindClan territory.  
Before long, she spotted a rabbit, quickly dropping into a crouch that mimicked the ones she had seen kits do in Camp but a Warrior would scoff at. She stalked forward, trying to sneak up on it, but the awkwardness of her pose meant that she didn't see some heather and stepped on it with a crunch, scaring the skittish rabbit away.  
Vixensong tried a few more times as the sun arced in the sky, only managing to catch the scrawniest and smallest rabbit of them all, which, for a cat that hadn't eaten in about two days, barely filled a hole.  
Finally, Vixensong found a plump hare that was completely unaware of her presence. Just as she was close enough to pounce on it, one of the WindClan Apprentices ran in, snatching it almost from her paws and killing it messily.  
It was a horrible moment as the two she cats made eye contact, recognising each other.  
"Rogue!" She screeched, loud enough to spread over the moors and certainly loud enough to alert the other cats on her patrol.  
The calico turned to flee, but the larger patrol cats soon caught up, Brownfoot overtaking her and blocking her path and Yellowclaw and Dewfall cornering her between the three of them, the hatred in all their eyes making the loner's blood run cold.  
Brownfoot launched himself at her, but Vixensong slipped aside, his claws catching her side enough to cause very shallow cuts, taking off running back towards the border, but the other cats were right behind her, Dewfall diving at her, hitting her square on her shoulders, sending them tumbling momentarily, before landing with her pinned on her front with his paws on her back. She struggled in his grip, feeling him nip at the back of her neck.  
Thinking she couldn't win, she flopped down, her sides heaving as her old friend loosened his grip.  
"You know what to do, Dewfall." Brownfoot growled menacingly. "You remember what Silverstar told us to do if we saw her."  
 _No!  
_ Vixensong suddenly pushed up, throwing Dewfall off guard and allowing her to escape, running away from them, but they weren't going to let her go. Fawnpaw was soon on her back, her claws digging into the calico as she thrashed wildly, trying to shake the Apprentice off. As Vixensong began to roll, Yellowclaw grabbed and yanked on her tail, sending her barrelling over, Brownfoot pinning her down this time until she raked her hind paws against his underbelly, taking the opportunity to get herself free again.  
She didn't get far, however, as Fawnpaw and Yellowclaw managed to sink their teeth into her tail and hindleg, Dewfall soon getting her scruff and pulling her over for Brownfoot to slash at her, her squirming being the only thing that made him slash her chest rather than her eyes. She scratched at his muzzle, making sure it stung, before rolling and scratching violently at Dewfall, making him let go so he didn't get hurt. Fawnpaw had become scared, letting go of her hindleg, which made the calico feel guilty for a moment, but she was able to get onto her paws, swiping at Yellowclaw, leaving a long cut across her cheek, before finally being able to break completely free and flee from the patrol, running blindly until she was certain that they weren't following her anymore.  
As she caught her breath, she realised her paws were leading her back to the Moonpool and her nest, but she knew she needed to stop her wounds bleeding first. Hunting around for some cobwebs, she bundled them around one paw, returning promptly to her nest, she tried to block her wounds, but some were in places she just couldn't reach on her own. Trying to ignore the stinging, the calico curled up in her nest, slipping into sleep as easily as a fish swimming along a stream in a drought.

Sunrises melted into each other as Vixensong lived alone. Silverstar and Nettleclaw had evidently put more patrols along the border, making it nearly impossible for her to hunt rabbits, and she couldn't stay on ThunderClan territory long as the forest blocking the view around her made her on edge, her chest tightening in panic until she got out again.  
Over time, the former Medicine Cat found herself more and more tired, able to travel less and less to find food and water.  
Eventually, she began to spend most of her time on her nest, having long given up keeping herself groomed, slipping in and out of sleep.  
"Oh StarClan!"  
Vixensong tried to pull herself out of her daze as Newtdapple's voice rang in the hollow, the old she cat running over to her with the other Medicine Cats just behind her.  
"What happened to you?" Lionleaf asked, her eyes wide in horror.  
"S-she made a mistake." Palepelt shakily replied, gradually catching the attention of all the cats. "The Leader before Silverstar became very sick, his mate said that he wouldn't have lived much longer, not long after Watersplash died and Swallowfang left. She meant to give him a poppy seed so he could sleep, but she gave him a foxglove seed by accident in her tiredness. That's why Silverstar exiled her."  
"How do you know that?" Swallowfang questioned the tom.  
"He came to me in a dream when I was an Apprentice and told me everything. Including that he had forgiven her." Palepelt touched his nose to his mentor's head. "At least you're safe here."  
"How long as she been alone?" Newtdapple asked, examining the calico with alarm written across her face.  
"About half a moon. Silverstar has made pretty sure she couldn't come back on our territory."  
"You poor thing." The RiverClan she cat mewed. For a moment, the calico saw her own mother in her place, her heart aching again as she wished she was back in WindClan more than ever.  
"I-I'll go find her something to eat." Mothspots mewed, quickly scampering away.  
"And I'll get her some water." Lionleaf took some of the moss in her nest before running out of the hollow.  
"These wounds look infected." Newtdapple pointed out to Swallowfang and Palepelt, pulling off the cobwebs that the calico had used to try and stop her bleeding.  
"I can get some marigold." Swallowfang nodded his head to her.  
"I know where some more cobwebs are." Palepelt added, promptly getting shooed out by the brown tabby.  
As Vixensong faded into sleep again, she knew that she was finally safe.


	22. Epilogue

Vixensong was awoken by the brambles over the entrance of the boulder Den she was laid in rustling, eventually parting to reveal the large, dark ginger tom.  
"Swallowfang!" He called in, getting no reply in the otherwise empty Den.  
Redstar turned to Vixensong, panic glittering dimly in his eyes.  
"Where is Swallowfang?" He asked.  
Vixensong just nodded out of Camp.  
"He went to treat Thornstorm's patrol?" He mewed.  
The calico nodded her reply.  
"Mistletail too?"  
Vixensong nodded again, much slower this time an with a shrug as the Leader shifted uncomfortably.  
The reason for Redstar's concern was soon clear as a yowl of distress and pain rose up from the Nursery.  
Vixensong stood up, going into the herb store and gathering some borage and fennel stalks, although there was less of the latter than she would have liked.  
"Are you sure you can do it?" Redstar asked her cautiously.  
Despite her enthusiasm, the Leader didn't seem very reassured.  
"Well, Poppybriar needs you. Please be careful - these kits are my kin!"  
Vixensong nodded with a smile, bounding over to the Nursery with a spring in her step with Redstar just behind her. The red tortoiseshell was clearly surprised to see Vixensong arrive with Redstar, but didn't protest like Vixensong expected her to do, particularly when she had swallowed some of the fennel juices. Vixensong got Redstar to leave the Nursery, joining his near exact copy who was pacing outside, leaving the two she cats together.  
"Will it last long?" The mostly red she cat asked fearfully as Vixensong examined her, nodding shakily when the calico shook her head.  
Thankfully, the kitting was quick and easy for the Queen, but it didn't stop her mate bursting in as soon as Poppybriar was resting with her new kits, wet moss in his jaws for his mate. She slipped out to leave the new family together in peace, receiving a respectful nod from Redstar before she returned to the nest she had in the Medicine Cat's Den while she recovered from her exile, although she couldn't help wonder what would come after.  
"There you are!" Vixensong heard Redstar call to Swallowfang and the patrol as they returned, following the Medicine Cat and the Warriors that needed more treatment. "What took you so long?"  
"One of them ended up coming back with Lizardstar." The brown and white tom explained with a sigh. "You can guess how that went."  
"Indeed." Redstar grumbled.  
"How is Poppybriar?"  
"Just had her kits."  
"What?" Swallowfang looked at Redstar in shock. "When? Who helped her? Mistletail?"  
"No. Vixensong."  
The two toms looked at the calico, who gave them an awkward smile back.  
"Not surprising." Swallowfang chuckled. "We always made a good team."  
When Swallowfang turned back to treating one of his Clanmates, Vixensong was sure that she saw Redstar look thoughtful before he left.

The ThunderClan cats gathered in the Camp outside, waking up the calico, who, despite being just about recovered, was still tired almost constantly.  
She padded to the back of the Den, nudging the tom awake as Redstar called out to the Clan.  
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the highledge for a Clan meeting." He yowled.  
While Swallowfang went to join the rest of his Clan, Vixensong sat by the Den entrance.  
"No need to sit over there, Vixensong." Redstar called to her.  
Blinking and confused, Vixensong padded forward, sitting beside Swallowfang, who looked equally perplexed.  
Redstar named some new Warriors and announced news about the border skirmish with ShadowClan a few sunrises before, which made Vixensong just feel nostalgic.  
"Vixensong, come forward." Redstar mewed.  
Among the murmurs of quiet confusion, the calico did as she was told, standing before the highledge.  
"Vixensong, after seeing your skills and your adaptability, I would like you to become a Medicine Cat of ThunderClan." He announced. "Alongside Swallowfang, of course."  
Vixensong looked back at her mate, who looked as shocked as she was but was also grinning from ear to ear, nodding keenly at her.  
The calico turned back to Redstar, nodding her reply humbly.  
"Excellent. You have made our Clan stronger, Vixensong."  
Redstar ended the meeting by jumping down from highledge, but he went over to the two Medicine Cats, speaking to them in a hushed voice.  
"I understand that you are more than just friends." He mewed, making both of the Medicine Cats embarrassed. "I will allow you to be mates."  
"But, Reds-"  
"StarClan no longer favours us, Swallowfang. Therefore, we shall no longer favour them."  
Redstar ended the conversation by turning and walking away.  
 _He's strange.  
_ Swallowfang was purring wildly beside her, waiting until they were back in their own Den before covering her in licks.  
"We're finally together again, Vixensong and permanently too!" He purred.  
Vixensong beamed, picking up the moss of her nest and moving it next to Swallowfang's.

Vixensong was quickly accepted by nearly all of ThunderClan, mostly due to the calming balance she brought to the scatterbrained Swallowfang, a trait that had passed down to his fox Apprentice, Mistletail.  
Despite her new status, she very rarely left Camp and never went to the Gathering.  
That was until Redstar approached the two Medicine Cats the night before the Gathering.  
"Vixensong, you're coming with us to the Gathering tonight." He mewed.  
Vixensong's eyes widened, shaking her head rapidly.  
"Redstar, I'm not so sure that would be wise." Swallowfang slowly argued, wincing a little as Redstar's expression shifted.  
"And why not? It would show how strong ThunderClan is!"  
"I don't think Silverstar would be very pleased. She did exile Vixensong after all."  
"I don't give a mousetail about what she thinks." Redstar huffed, looking back at the calico with angry, amber eyes. "You're coming with us and that is final."  
Vixensong shared a glance with Swallowfang as Redstar turned his back and padded away.  
When the evening came, Redstar watched the two Medicine Cats very closely, staying a few fox lengths away from them at most all the way to the Gathering, making Vixensong very uncomfortable, wanting to just turn around, go back to Camp and return to her own nest. Even when they were on the Island, waiting for the other Clans to arrive, Redstar watched them with unblinking eyes.  
When ShadowClan arrived, Lizardstar distracted Redstar, much to Vixensong's relief.  
Mothspots came over, his face somewhere between disbelief and joy.  
"So it was true." He mewed, willingly sitting beside the calico. "You have been accepted into ThunderClan."  
"As a full Medicine Cat as well, not as an Apprentice." Swallowfang purred. "It's certainly made a difference."  
Vixensong flushed under the praise, licking her chest.  
Soon, RiverClan arrived, Lionleaf supporting a shaky Newtdapple, both breaking out into smiles upon seeing their fellow Medicine Cat safe and sound.  
Finally, WindClan arrived. Silverstar joined the other Leaders, seemingly oblivious to her former Medicine Cat, while Palepelt bounded over, purring as he saw his mentor for the first time in moons.  
"You're safe! Thank StarClan!" Palepelt beamed.  
"I told you I was telling the truth." Swallowfang jokingly mewed.  
"W-We didn't think Redstar would do it." Mothspots admitted.  
"Redstar is Redstar." Swallowfang shrugged it off as the Gathering started.  
Lizardstar spoke first, only announcing a few new Apprentices in ShadowClan, before he nodded to Redstar.  
"ThunderClan has been strengthened greatly for the past few moons with the addition of a second full Medicine Cat." He announced, ignoring the murmurs of the cats below and even beside him. "Vixensong is no-"  
"Are you mouse-brained?!" Silverstar quickly jumped up, her hackles raised. "She was banished _for a reason_ , Redstar!"  
"Unlike you, Silverstar," Redstar was unshaken by her outburst. "I acknowledge _all_ the facts before blindly throwing out a perfectly well trained cat and weakening my Clan."  
"She murdered Stagstar!"  
"Not intentionally!" Palepelt spoke up, standing firmly in front of his former mentor, who was crumpling into a small ball as the tension rose.  
"She still murdered him!" Silverstar hissed, jumping down from the tree and advancing on the Medicine Cat.  
"The exhaustion and loneliness you feel isn't just felt by Leaders, Silverstar." Swallowfang added, diverting all the attention to himself. "Medicine Cats feel it too. Palepelt has clearly been run off his paws, taking care of WindClan by himself."  
"The Medicine Cat path is just as lonely as yours, Silverstar." Lionleaf mewed.  
"We are meant to stand apart." Mothspots stood up to Silverstar as well, his prickliness from Vixensong's early Apprenticeship returning. "We're not meant to form friendships with cats in order to treat all cats equally."  
"You would do well to appreciate Medicine Cats." Newtdapple sternly mewed.  
"I have no quarrel with any of you." The silver tabby hissed, pushing them aside, getting to Vixensong easily. "You don't deserve to be a Medicine Cat!"  
"That's enough, Silverstar!" Redstar pushed himself between the two she cats, Vixensong taking the opportunity to slink around to Swallowfang, only being able to watch as the two Leaders argued.  
"She is dangerous! Giving foxglove seeds to sick cats!" Silverstar countered, her claws unsheathing.  
 _Please StarClan!_ Vixensong pleaded, scared as Redstar and Warriors from the two Clans unsheathed their claws too. _Please, make it stop!  
_ "StarClan is unhappy with your fighting!" Lizardstar's voice boomed.  
Vixensong looked up to the moon, watching clouds gather quickly over it, her heart beat slowing.  
"This gathering is over." Reedstar announced, taking RiverClan away from the Island.  
"This isn't over." Silverstar hissed. "Our Clans will never be at peace as long as I will live!"  
Vixensong gulped as the silver tabby left, managing to cast just one comforting look to Palepelt before he left with WindClan.  
As Redstar turned to his Medicine Cats, the calico looked down, ashamed.  
"This isn't your fault, Vixensong." The Leader touched his nose to her head. "The two of you were right. Vixensong should not have come."  
As Redstar lead his Clan back to Camp, Vixensong didn't make eye contact with anyone, including Swallowfang. She wondered if she should have been accepted into ThunderClan or not.

A few moons after the Gathering, Vixensong and Mistletail were sat together watching Poppybriar's kits play.  
"So, do you still feel like you don't belong here?" He asked gently.  
Vixensong heard him sigh quietly as she sagged, shrugging uncertainly, plunging them into silence again.  
"What about your kits?" Mistletail suddenly asked, making Vixensong recoil in shock.  
The calico hadn't even considered that she could possibly be pregnant, instantly becoming overwhelmed by guilt.  
The fox looked at her expectantly, but all the calico could do was shrug.  
"Redstar seemed to have taken it reasonably well when I suggested the possibility." The fox added.  
Vixensong winced, knowing that she would probably loose her job as a Medicine Cat.  
"Does Swallowfang know?" The fox asked, watching the brown and white tom return to their Den.  
Vixensong shook her head, knowing that she needed to tell him. She padded after him, finding him in the herb store, sorting herbs out. She butted her head against his shoulder to get his attention.  
"What is it?" He asked, turning his ice blue eyes on her, one look making her stomach knot.  
Nervously, she pointed to the Nursery with her nose.  
"Is something wrong with Poppybriar?"  
Shaking her head, Vixensong licked her soon to be swollen belly instead.  
"Do you have a stomach ache?"  
Vixensong shook her head again, licking her belly more obviously and then nodding towards the Nursery and Poppybriar's kits, watching realisation dawn on his face.  
"You're...?" Swallowfang's jaw hung open, his shock turning into delight as she nodded, twisting his tail with hers. "This is wonderful news, Vixensong!"  
The calico beamed, rubbing her cheek against his as Swallowfang rapidly rambled in his excitement.  
"Our kits will be the best in the forest!"

* * *

 **Author's (final) note:**

Hello everyone!

Vixensong's Path is now complete! I've had so much fun writing this!

The next story I will be writing is Silverstar's Time! Chronologically set after Vixensong's Path and centred around Silverstar, it will follow WindClan after Palepelt became a full Medicine Cat and Vixensong joined ThunderClan up to the end of her time as Leader.

Once again, thank you so much all for the support; all the favourites, follows, reviews and views of both myself and this story! I'm honestly not sure if I would have continued this story if you hadn't all been so kind and patient!

Thank you all for everything!  
\- Maskie


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